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Kenneth  MacKenna 


THE  LIVING  CORPSE 


THE  LIVING  CORPSE 

A  Drama  in  Six  Acts  and  Twelve  Tableaux 

LEO  N.  TOLSTOI 

Translated  from  the  Russian 


By  Anna  Monossowitch  Evarts 
(Mrs.  E.  M.  Evarts) 


NICHOLAS  L.  BROWN 
NEW  YORK  1919 


Copyright    191  i 
By  Brown  Brothers 


Copyright    1919 
By  Nicholas  L.  Broww 


roc 


•7 


TRANSLATOR'S  NOTE 


The  drama  "The  Living  Corpse"  (Zhivoi  Trup), 
was  written  in  the  year  1900,  at  Moscow,  at  Pirogov 
(the  estate  of  Sergey  Nikolaevich,  Tolstoi's  brother) 
and  at  Yashaya  Polyana  (Tolstoi's  own  estate.) 

The  following  translation  is  made  from  the  only 
authorized  Russian  edition  based  on  the  manu- 
scripts in  the  possession  of  the  late  Count  Tolstoi's 
daughter,  A.  L.  Tolstaya. 


Washington,  D.  C. 


CHARACTERS 

Feodor  Vasilyevich  Protasov  (Fedya). 
Elizaveta  Andreevna  Protasov  a,  his  wife  (Liza). 
MiSHA,  their  son. 
Anna  Pavlovna,  Liza's  mother. 
Victor  Michailovich  Karenin. 
Sash  a,  a  young  girl,  Liza's  sister. 
Anna  Dmitrievna  Karenina. 
Prince  Sergey  Dmitrievich  Abrezkov. 
Masha,  a  young  gipsy-girl. 
Ivan  Makarovich,  an  old  gipsy.\ 
Nastasya  Ivanovna,  )  Masha's  parents. 

an  old  gipsy-woman. ) 
An  Officer. 
A  Composer. 
First  Gipsy. 
Second  Gipsy. 
A  Gipsy-girl. 

Gipsies — men  and  women.  (The  chorus.) 
A  Doctor. 
Michail  Aleksandrovich  Afremov.  ; 


Fedya's  friends. 


Stachov. 

butkevich. 

korotkov. 

Ivan  Petrovich  Aleksandrov. 

VozNESENSKY,  Karenin's  Secretary. 

Petushkov,  an  artist. 

Artemyev. 

Two  Waiters. 

An  Innkeeper. 

A  Policeman. 

The  Prosecuting  Attorney. 

Meljnikov. 

A  Clerk. 

A  Young  Lawyer. 

The  Sergeant-at-arms. 

Petrushin,  a  lawyer. 

A  Lady. 

An  Officer. 

A  Court  Attendant. 

The  Nurse  at  Protasov's. 

Maid. 

Afremov's  Lackey. 

Lackey  at  the  Karenin's. 


THE  LIVING  CORPSE 


The  Living  Corpse 


ACT  I. 
TABLEAU  I. 


The  action  takes  place  at  St.  Petersburg,  at  the 
home  of  Protasov.  The  scene  represents  a  small 
dining-room. 


SCENE  I. 

Afina    Pavlovna;    a    plump,    gray-haired    lady, 
tightly-laced,  is  sitting  alone  at  the  tea-table. 


SCENE  11. 

Anna  Pavlozma;  the  nurse  {enters  zmth  a  tea- 
pot.) 

Nurse:  May  I  have  a  little  water? 

Anna  Pavlovna:    Yes.    How  is  little  Misha? 

Nurse:  Restless,  as  might  be  expected.  Nothing 
is  worse  than  to  have  madame  herself  nurse  the 
child.  She  has  her  troubles,  you  see,  and  the  child 
suffers.  What  can  the  milk  be  like  if  the  mother 
spends  all  night  crying? 

Anna  Pavlovna  :  It  seems  she  has  quieted  down 
now. 


14  THE   LIVING   CORPSE. 

Nurse  :  Quieted  down  indeed !  It  makes  one 
sick  to  look  at  her !  She  was  writing  something  and 
crying  all  along. 


SCENE  III. 
Anna  Pavlovna,  nurse;  and  Sasha  (enters). 
Sasha:  (to  the  nurse)  Liza  is  looking  for  you. 
Nurse:  I'm  going,  I'm  going.     (Nurse  goes  out.) 


SCENE  IV. 

Anna  Pavlovna  and  Sasha. 

Anna  Pavlovna:  The  nurse  says  she  does  not 
cease  to  cry.     Can't  she  try  and  compose  herself ! 

Sasha  :  You  astonish  me,  mamma !  She  has  left 
her  husband,  the  father  of  her  child,  and  you  ex- 
pect her  to  be  composed. 

Anna  Pavlovna  :  Not  exactly  composed.  What's 
done  is  done.  If  I,  her  mother,  not  only  consented 
to  my  daughter's  leaving  her  husband,  but  was  glad 
of  it,  it  means  that  he  deserves  it.  We  should  be 
glad,  not  sorry,  that  we  have  rid  ourselves  of  such  a 
horrid  person, — such  a  jewel! 

Sasha:  Mamma,  why  do  you  speak  like  this? 
You  know  it  isn't  true.  He  is  not  horrid ;  on  the 
contrary,  he  is  a  remarkable,  a  very  remarkable  man, 
in  spite  of  his  weaknesses. 

Anna  Pavlovna:  Precisely, — a  remarkable  man. 
As  soon  as  he  has  any  money  in  his  hands — whether 
his  own  or  that  of  other  people — 

Sasha:  Mamma,  he  never  took  other  people's 
money. 

Anna  Pavlovna:    Well,  his  wife's  then. 


THE   LIVING   CORPSE.  15 

Sasha:  But  he  gave  his  entire  fortune  to  his 
wife. 

Anna  Pavlovna:  Why  shouldn't  he  give  it  to 
her,  knowing  well  enough  that  he  will  squander  it 
all  before  long,  in  any  event. 

Sasha:  Whether  he  will  squander  it  or  not,  I 
only  know  that  a  woman  should  not  separate  from 
her  husband,  and  especially  from  one  like  Fedya. 

Anna  Pavlovna  :  According  to  you  she  should 
have  waited  till  he  had  squandered  everything,  and 
had  brought  his  gipsy  mistresses  to  the  house. 

Sasha:  He  has  no  mistresses.    ,    ■ 

Anna  Pavlovna:  That's  just  where  the  trouble 
^  lies/— he  has  somehow  bewitched  you  all.  But  not 
rrre,  no  indeed !  I  see  through  him,  and  he  knows  it. 
Were  I  in  Liza's  place,  I  would  not  have  waited 
till  now  to  throw  him  over;  I'd  have  done  it  a  year 
ago. 

Sasha  :    How  lightly  you  say  all  this. 

Anna  Pavlovna  :  Oh,  no !  it's  not  easy  for  me, 
a  mother,  to  see  my  daughter  separated  from  her 
husband.  Believe  me,  it  is  most  painful.  But  just 
the  same  it's  better  than  ruining  her  young  life.  I 
thank  the  Lord  that  she  has  made  up  her  mind  at 
last,  and  that  it's  all  over. 

Sasha  :    Perhaps  it  isn't. 

Anna  Pavlovna:  Oh,  if  he  would  only  give 
her  a  divorce ! 

Sasha  :  What  good  would  that  do  ? 

Anna  Pavlovna  :  Bear  in  mind  that  she  is  young, 
and  may  yet  be  happy. 

Sasha  :  Oh,  mamma !  what  terrible  things  you 
do  say !     Liza  cannot  learn  to  love  another. 

Anna  Pavlovna:  Why  not,  if  she  were  free? 
There  are  men  a  thousand  times  better  than  your 


16  THE   LIVING   CORPSE. 

Fedya,  and  they  would  be  only  too  happy  to  marry 
her. 

Sasha  :  Mamma,  you  do  wrong  to  talk  that  way. 
Of  course,  you  are  thinking  of  Victor  Karenin;  I 
know  it. 

Anna  Pavlovna:  And  why  shouldn't  I  think  of 
him  ?  He  has  loved  her  for  ten  years,  and  she  loves 
him  in  return. 

Sasha:  Loves  him,  but  not  as  a  husband.  It's 
merely  their  friendship  from  childhood. 

Anna  Pavlovna:  We  know  those  friendships! 
Let  only  nothing  stand  in  the  way ! 


SCENE  V. 

Anna  Pavlovna  and  Sasha;  maid  enters. 

Anna  Pavlovna  :  Well  ? 

Maid:  Madame  sent  the  janitor  with  a  note  to 
Victor  Michailovich. 

Anna  Pavlovna:    What  madame? 

Maid:    Elizaveta  Andreevna,  the  madame. 

Anna  Pavlovna:    Well,  what  of  it? 

Maid:  Victor  Michailovich  sent  word  that  he 
would  soon  be  over. 

Anna  Pavlovna:  (surprised)  We  were  just  talk- 
ing of  him.  Only  I  don't  see  why  she  sent  for  him. 
{To  Sasha.)  Perhaps  you  know? 

Sasha:  Perhaps  I  do,  and  perhaps  I  don't. 

Anna  Pavlovna:  Always  secrets — 

Sasha:  Liza  will  be  here  soon.  She  will  tell  you. 

Anna  Pavlovna:  (Shaking  her  head;  to  the 
maid)  The  samovar  needs  to  be  warmed  up.  Take 
it,  Dunyasha.  (maid  takes  the  samovar,  and  goes 
out.) 


THE   LIVING   CORPSE.  17 

SCENE  VI. 

Anna  Pavlovna  and  Sa^ha. 

Anna  Pavlovna:  {to  Sasha,  who  has  risen  to 
go)  It  happened  just  as  I  foretold.  She  sent  for 
him  right  away,  of  course. 

Sasha:  Perhaps  she  sent  for  him  for  an  alto- 
gether different  reason. 

Anna  Pavlovna:  Well,  why  then? 

Sasha:  At  this  moment  Karenin  means  no  more 
to  her  than  the  nurse  Trifonovna. 

Anna  Pavlovna  :  Very  well,  you'll  see.  I  know 
her,  let  me  tell  you.  She  sent  for  him  to  console 
her. 

Sasha:  Oh,  mamma,  how  little  you  know  her 
if  you  can  think — 

Anna  Pavlovna:  You'll  see,  all  right.  I'm 
glad,  very  glad. 

Sasha:   We'll  see.     {turns  and  goes  out.) 


,   ,  SCENE  VII. 

Anna  Pavlovna  alone. 

Anna  Pavlovna:    {shakes  her  head  and  mut- 
ters) All  right,  let  her.    All  right,  let  her.    Well— 


SCENE  VIII. 

Anna  Pavlovna  and  maid  {enters.) 
Maid:    Victor  Michailovich  is  here. 
Anna  Pavlovna  :   Very  well.    Show  him  in,  and 
tell  madame.     {maid  goes  out.) 


18  THE    LIVING  CORPSE. 

SCENE  IX. 

Anna  Pavlovna  and  Victor  Karenin. 

Victor  Karenin:  {enters,  shakes  hands  with 
Anna  Pavlovna)  Elizaveta  Andreevna  sent  me  a 
note  that  I  should  come  over.  I  was  going  to  come 
to-night  anyhow,  so  I'm  very  glad. — Is  Elizaveta 
Andreeina  well ? 

Anna  Pavlovna:  Yes,  but  the  baby  is  a  little 
restless.  She'll  be  here  soon,  (sadly)  Yes,  yes, 
hard  times ;  you  know  everything,  don't  you  ? 

Victor  Karenin  :  Yes.  I  was  here,  you  know, 
the  other  day,  when  the  letter  from  him  came.  But 
is  it  really  definitely  decided? 

Anna  Pavlovna:  I  should  say  so!  Why,  of 
course !  To  go  through  all  this  once  more  would  be 
terrible. 

Victor  Karenin  :  Yes,  this  is  truly  a  case  of 
"measure  ten  times  before  cutting  once."  And  to 
cut  into  the  living  is  very  hard. 

Anna  Pavlovna:  Naturally,  it's  hard.  But,  to 
be  sure,  their  union  was  cut  into  long  ago,  so  that 
to  break  it  was  not  as  hard  as  it  seems.  He  under- 
stands very  well  that  after  all  that  has  happened 
he  dare  not  come  back. 

Victor  Karenin  :  Why  so  ? 

Anna  Pavlovna:  How  can  you  expect  otherwise 
after  all  this  nastiness,  after  he  had  sworn  that  it 
would  not  happen  again,  and  that  if  it  should,  he 
would  renounce  his  rights  as  a  husband  and  give 
her  full  freedom? 

Victor  Karenin  :  Yes,  but  what  freedom  is  there 
for  a  woman  bound  in  wedlock  ? 

Anna  Pavlovna:  Divorce!  He  promised  to  di- 
vorce her  and  we  will  insist  upon  it. 


THE   LIVING   CORPSE.  19 

Victor  Karenin  :  But  Elizaveta  Andreevna 
loved  him  so  much — 

Anna  Pavlovna:  Her  love  was  subjected  to 
such  abuse  that  there  is  hardly  a  shred  left  of  it. 
She  had  to  put  up  with  drunkenness,  deceit,  un- 
faithfulness. Could  anyone  possibly  love  such  a 
husband  ? 

Victor  Karenin  :  For  love's  sake  one  can  do 
anything. 

Anna  Pavlovna:  You  talk  of  love,  but  how  can 
anyone  love  such  a  rag,  who  cannot  be  depended 
upon  in  any  way?  What  do  you  think  took  place 
only  lately? — {looks  around  at  the  door  and  speaks 
hurriedly)  Their  affairs  had  gone  to  pieces,  every- 
thing had  to  be  mortgaged,  and  there  was  nothing 
to  pay  with.  Finally  an  uncle  comes  to  the  rescue 
with  two  thousand  to  pay  ofif  the  interest.  He  takes 
this  money  and  drops  out  of  sight.  As  for  the  wife, 
she  stays  at  home  with  a  sick  child,  waiting,  when 
at  last  a  note  comes  from  him — asking  her  to  send 
him  his  linen  and  things ! 

Victor  Karenin  :  Yes,  yes,  I  know. 


SCENE  X. 

Anna  Pavlovna,  Karenin.    Enter  Lisa  and  Sasha. 

Anna  Pavlovna:  You  see,  Victor  Michailovich 
has  come  as  you  requested. 

Victor  Karenin  :  Yes,  I  was  detained  a  bit. 
(shakes  hands  with  the  sisters.) 

Liza:  Thanks.  I  have  a  great  favor  to  ask  of 
you.    And  I  have  no  one  to  turn  to  but  you. 

Victor  Karenin  :    I'll  do  everything  I  can. 

Liza  :  You  know  everything,  of  course — 


30  THE   LIVING   CORPSE. 

Victor  Karenin  :    Yes,  I  know. 
Anna  Pavlovna:      I'll  leave  you.    {to  Sasha) 
Come  along,  let's  leave  them  alone. 


SCENE  XI. 

V     Liza  and  Karenin. 

vi  Liza:  Yes,  he  wrote  me  a  letter  that  he  con- 
sidered it  all  ended.  I  {restraining  tears)  felt  so 
offended,  so — well,  in  a  word,  I  consented  to  break 
off  with  him  and  answered  that  I  accepted  his  de- 
cision. 

Victor  Karenin  :  And  now  you  regret  it  ? 
'-'-■  hiZA :  Yes,  I  felt  that  it  was  bad  on  my  part,  that 
I  couldn't  do  it.  Anything  is  preferable  to  sep- 
arating from  him.  Well,  in  a  word,  give  him  this 
letter.  Please,  Victor, — give  him  this  letter,  and 
tell — bring  him  back. 

Victor  Karenin:  {surprised)   But  how? 

Liza:  Tell  him  that  I  ask  him  to  forget  every- 
thing and  to  return.  I  might  simply  have  sent  the 
letter.  But  I  know  him:  his  first  impulse  will,  as 
usual,  be  a  good  one,  but  later,  under  someone's 
influence,  he  will  change  his  mind  and  do  something 
altogether  dift'erent  from  his  real  intentions. 

Victor  Karenin  :  I  will  do  what  I  can. 

Liza:  You  are  astonished  that  I  should  ask  just 
you? 

Victor  Karenin  :  No — well,  to  tell  the  truth, 
yes,  I  am  astonished. 

Liza:   But  you  are  not  angry? 

Victor  Karenin:   Can  I  be  angry  with  you? 

Liza  :  I  asked  you  because  I  knew  that  you  loved 
him. 


THE  LIVING   CORPSE.  21 

Victor  Karenin  :  Both  him  and  you.  You  know- 
it.  I  love  not  for  myself,  but  for  you.  And  I  thank 
you  for  trusting  me.    I  will  do  what  I  can. 

Liza:  I  know  you  will,  and  I  will  tell  you  all: 
I  was  just  down  at  Afremov's  to  find  out  where  he 
was.  They  told  me  he  had  gone  to  the  gipsies.' 
And  that's  just  what  I  am  afraid  of.  It's  that  in- 
fatuation that  I  fear.  I  know  that  if  he  will  not 
be  restrained  in  time  he  will  let  himself  be  carried 
away.  That's  just  what  must  be  prevented.  So 
you  will  go  over? 

Victor  Karenin  :  Of  course,  at  once. 

Liza:  Go  over,  find  him  and  tell  him  that  all  is 
forgotten,  that  I  am  waiting  for  him. 

Victor  Karenin  :  (rises)  But  where  am  I  to 
look  for  him? 

Liza:  He  is  at  the  gipsies'.  I  was  there  myself. 
I  was  at  the  door;  I  wanted  to  send  the  letter  up, 
but  I  changed  my  mind  and  decided  to  ask  you  to 
do  it  for  me.  Here  is  the  address.  So  tell  him  to 
come  back,  that  nothing  happened,  that  all's  for- 
gotten. Do  it  out  of  love  for  him  and  friendship 
for  us. 

Victor  Karenin  :  I  will  do  all  I  can.  (bows  and 
leaves.) 


SCENE  xn. 

Lisa  alone. 

Liza:    I  cannot,  I  cannot.     Anything   is    better 
than — I  cannot,      -^^.jc^^tt^t..    y^    ^ -^s^-i^.^-.- 


SCENE  XIIL 

Lisa;  Sasha  (enters). 

Sasha:  Well,  did  you  send  it? 


22  THE   LIVING   CORPSE. 

Liza:  {nods  yes.)   "  (yi>i>v^s     n- 

Sash  A:    And  he  consented? 

Liza:  Of  course. 

Sasha:  Why  him?    I  don't  understand. 

Liza:  Whom  else? 

Sasha:  But  you  know  that  he  is  in  love  with 
you? 

Liza  :  All  that  was,  and  is  no  longer.  But  whom 
do  you  want  me  to  ask,  pray?  Do  you  think  he'll 
come  back? 

Sasha  :    I'm  sure  he  will,  because — 


SCENE  XIV. 

Liza;  Sasha;  Anna  Pavlovna.  (Sasha  stops 
short.) 

Anna  Pavlovna:  And  where  is  Victor  Michailo- 
vich? 

Liza:  He's  gone. 

Anna  Pavlovna:   Gone? 

Liza:   I  asked  him  to  carry  out  my  request. 

Anna  Pavlona:  What  request?  Another  se- 
cret? 

Liza:  No  secret  at  all.  I  simply  asked  him  to 
give  the  letter  personally  to  Fedya. 

Anna  Pa\T[.ovna:  To  Fedya?  To  Fedor  Vasilye- 
vich? 

Liza  :    Yes,  to  Fedya. 

Anna  Pavlovna:  I  thought  it  was  all  over  be- 
tween you  two  ? 

Liza  :   I  cannot  part  with  him. 

Anna  Pavlovna :  What !  Starting  all  over  again? 

Liza  :  I  wanted  to,  I  tried  to,  but  I  couldn't.  Any- 
thing you  want  rather  than  part  with  him. 

Anna  Pavlovna:  Well,  do  you  mean  to  bring 
him  back? 


THE   LIVING   CORPSE.  23 

Liza  :    Yes. 

Anna  Pavlovna:  Admit  that  nasty  thing  to  the 
bouse  again? 

Liza  :  Mamma,  I  ask  you  not  to  speak  that  way 
of  my  husband. 

Anna  Pavlovna  :    He  zvas  your  husband. 

Liza:    No,  he  is  my  husband  nozv. 

Anna  Pavlovna  :  A  squanderer,  drunkard,  hber- 
tine,  and  you  cannot  part  with  him  ? ! 

Liza  :  Why  do  you  torture  me  ?  '  I  feel  badly 
enough  as  it  is,  and  you  seem  to  torture  me  on  pur- 
pose. 

Anna  Pavlovna:  I'm  torturing  you?  Then  I'll 
leave  at  once.    I  can't  stand  this. 

Liza:  (remains  silent.) 

Anna  Pavlovna:  I  see  that  you  want  me  to  go, 
that  I'm  in  your  way.  I  cannot  endure  it.  I  don't 
understand  any  of  your  doings,  any  of  those  new- 
fangled notions  of  yours.  First  you  decide  to  sepa- 
rate from  him,  then  you  suddenly  send  for  the  man 
who  is  in  love  with  you — 

Liza  :  Nothing  of  the  kind. 

Anna  Pavlovna:  Karenin  proposes  to  you — 
and  you  send  him  to  fetch  back  your  husband  !  And 
why?    To  arouse  Karenin's  jealousy? 

Liza:  Mamma,  what  you  say  is  terrible.  Leave 
me! 

Anna  Pavlovna:  That's  right — drive  your 
mother  out  of  the  house  and  bring  back  your  scamp 
of  a  husband.  I  won't  be  long  in  going,  I  tell  you. 
Good-bye,  then.  The  Lord  be  with  you!  Do  as 
you  please!   (goes  out,  slamming  the  door.) 


24  THE   LIVING  CORPSE. 

SCENE  XV. 
Lisa  and  Sasha. 

Liza:    {drops  into  a  chair.)   This  is  too  much ! 
Sasha  :    Never  mind !  It'll  turn  out  all  right.  We 
shall  manage  to  pacify  mamma. 


SCENE  XVI. 

Lisa;  Sasha;  Anna  Pavlovna  (passes  by.) 
Anna  Pavlovna:    Dunyasha!   My  suit-case! 
Sasha  :    Mamma,  listen !  (follows  her,  and  winks 
at  her  sister.) 


TABLEAU  n. 


SCENE  I. 

A  room  at  the  gipsies'.  The  chorus  is  singing 
"Kanavela."  Fedya  is  lying  on  a  couch,  face  down, 
without  his  coat.  Afremov  is  astride  of  a  chair, 
facing  the  leader  of  the  chorus.  An  officer  sits  at  a 
table  on  which  stand  champagne-bottles  and  glasses. 
At  the  same  table  a  composer  sits,  taking  down  the 
melodies. 

Afremov  :  Fedya,  are  you  asleep  ? 

Fedya  :  Keep  quiet !  Now  let's  have  "  'Twas  Not 
At  Eventide." 

Gipsy:  Not  just  now,  Feodor  Vasilyevich.  Now 
let  Masha  sing  alone. 

Fedya  :  All  right.  But  after  that  "  'Twas  Not 
At  Eventide."  (lies  dozvn  again.) 

Officer  :'  "The  Fatal  Hour !" 

Gipsy  :    Agreed  ? 


ii! 


THE   LIVING   CORPSE.  25 

Afremov  :   It'll  do. 

Officer:  (to  the  composer.)  Well,  did  you  take 
it  down  ? 

Composer  :  Impossible.  It  sounds  different  every 
time.  And  the  scale  is  somehow  altogether  unusual. 
Look  here  (to  the  gipsy  girl,  zvho  is  looking  on), 
how  does  this  go?  (hums.) 

Gipsy  Girl:  That's  just  right!    That's  fine! 

Fedya:  (rising.)  He  won't  take  it  down,  and  if 
he  takes  it  down  and  sticks  it  into  an  opera  he'll 
spoil  it  all.  Well,  Masha,  let's  have  it,  "The  Hour," 
for  all  I  care.  Take  the  guitar,  (gets  up,  sits  down 
in  front  of  her,  and  gazes  into  her  eyes.) 

Masha:  (sings.) 

Fedya:  Bravo!  Talk  about  Masha!  Now  let's 
have  "  'Twas  Not  At  Eventide." 

Afremov:  No!  Stop  a  moment!  Sing  mine  first, 
a  dirge. 

Officer  :    Why  a  dirge  ? 

Afremov  :  Why,  because  when  I'll  be  dead — you 
understand,  of  course,  that  I  shall  die  some  time  or 
other — the  gipsies  will  come  to  my  grave — you  un- 
derstand. That's  what  I'll  demand  of  my  wife  in 
my  last  will.  And  they'll  sing  "A  hundred  leagues 
I  wandered  once,"  and  I'll  jump  out  of  my  grave — 
understand?  (to  the  composer:)  That's  what 
you're  to  take  down !  Well,  let's  have  it !  (the  gip- 
sies sing.) 

Afremov:  Well,  how's  that?  Now  let's  have 
"Come,  brave  lads."  (the  gipsies  sing.) 

Afremov:  (zvinks  slyly)  The  gipsies  smile  and 
continue  to  sing;  applause. 

Afremov:  (sits  down.  The  singing  comes  to  an 
end.) 

Gipsies:  Talk  about  Michail  Aleksandrovich — a 
full  fledged  gipsy? 


26  THE  LIVING  CORPSE. 

Fedya:  Now  let's  have  "Twas  Not  At  Even- 
tide." (gipsies  sing.) 

Fedya:  That's  the  way!  That's  it!  Wonderful! 
And  where  does  all  that  is  expressed  here  happen? 
Ah,  fine !  Why  can  a  man  attain  to  such  ecstasy, 
and  not  be  able  to  sustain  it? 

Composer:  (writing  dozvn)  Yes,  it  is  very 
strange. 

Fedya:  It's  not  strange;  it's  only  truly  beautiful. 

Afremov:  Now,  let  me  try  it  (takes  the  guitar 
and  sits  down  near  Katya.) 

Composer:  After  all,  it's  very  simple;  it's  all  in 
the  rhythm. 

Fedya  :  (Motions  disapproval,  goes  over  to  Masha 
and  sits  dozvn  on  the  sofa  at  her  side)  Ah,  Masha, 
Masha,  how  you  stir  my  innermost  being! 

Masha:  Well,  and  what  do  I  ask  of  you  in  re- 
turn? 

Fedya:  What?  Money?  (takes  some  out  of  his 
trouser-pocket)  Well,  here  you  are,  take  it. 

Masha:  (laughs,  takes  the  money,  and  hides  it  in 
her  bosom.) 

Fedya:  (to  the  gipsies.)  How  is  one  to  under- 
stand it?  To  me  she  opens  the  gates  of  heaven,  and 
all  she  cares  for  is  the  money  she  gets!  You  see, 
you  don't  for  a  moment  understand  what  you  are 
doing! 

Masha  :  Why  don't  I  ?  I  understand  that  whom 
I  love,  for  him  I  try  to  sing  my  best. 

Fedya:    And  you  love  me? 

Masha:    Plain  enough  I  do. 

Fedya  :  Glorious !  ( kisses  her. ) 


THE   LIVING   CORPSE.  2T 

SCENE  11. 

The  gipsies  and  the  gipsy-girls  go  out.  Three 
couples  remain,  Fedya  with  Masha;  Afremov  zvith 
Katya;  the  Officer  zvith  Gasha.  The  Composer  con- 
tinues writing.  The  gipsy  runs  his  fingers  over  the 
strings  of  the  guitar,  playing  a  walse. 

Fedya:  I'm  married,  you  know.  And  as  for  you, 
the  chorus  doesn't  one  bit  Hke  what  you're  doing. 

jMasha:  The  chorus  can  get  along  well  enough 
without  me,  but  a  heart's  a  heart.  Whom  I  love, 
I  love.    And  whom  I  hate  I  hate. 

Fedya:    Ah,  wonderful !    Are  you  happy? 

Masha:  Of  course  I  am.  When  the  guests  are 
the  right  sort,  we,  too,  have  a  jolly  time. 


SCENE  III. 

A  gipsy  enters. 

Gipsy:  {to  Fedya)  A  gentleman  is  asking  for 
you. 

Fedya:  Who  is  it? 

Gipsy  :  I  don't  know.  He's  well  dressed ;  a  sable 
coat. 

Fedya:  Somebody  of  importance?  Well,  call 
him  in. 


SCENE  IV. 

The  same,  without  the  gipsy. 
Afremov  :    Who  can  be  looking  for  you  here  ? 
Fedya  :   The  devil  knows !  Who  has  any  business 
with  me  ? 


28  THE   LIVING   CORPSE. 

SCENE  V. 

The  same;  Karenin  enters  and  looks  around. 
Fedya:     Ah,  Victor!    Didn't  expect  you,  to  be 
sure !    Take  off  your  things.    What  wind  blew  you 
here?    Well,  sit  down.    You'll  hear  *'  'Twas  Not  At 
Eventide." 

Victor  Karenin  :  Je  voudrais  vous  parler  sans 
temoins. 

Fedya:  What  about? 

Victor  Karenin  :    Je  viens  de  chez  vous.  Votre 

femme  m'a  charge  de  cette  lettre,  et  puis . 

Fedya:  (takes  the  letter,  reads  it,  frowns,  then 
smiling  pleasantly.)  Listen,  Karenin,  you  no  doubt 
know  what's  in  this  letter? 

Victor  Karenin  :    I  know  and  wish  to  say 

Fedya:  Hold  on,  hold  on.  Please  don't  think 
that  I  am  drunk,  and  that  I'm  not  responsible  for 
what  I  say.  I  am  drunk,  but  in  this  matter  I  see 
everything  clearly.  Well,  what  were  you  instructed 
to  say? 

Victor  Karenin:  I  was  instructed  to  find  you 
and  to  tell  you  that — she — is  waiting  for  you.  She 
asks  you  to  forget  everything  and  to  come  back. 

Fedya:  (listens  silently,  looking  iyi  his  eyes)  I 
don't    understand,    just    the    same,    why     it    was 

you ? 

Victor  Karenin  :    Elizaveta  Andreevna  sent  for 

me  and  asked  me  to 

Fedya:    I  see. 

Victor  Karenin  :  But  I  ask  you,  not  so  much  in 
your  wife's  name  as  in  my  own,  to  return  home  with 
me. 

Fedya  :  You're  so  much  better  than  I  am.  What 
nonsense !  It  isn't  very  hard  to  be  better  than  I  am. 
T'm  a  good-'for-nothing,  and  you're  a  very  excellent 


THE   LIVING   CORPSE.  29 

person.    And  for  this  very  reason  I  shall  not  change 
\       my  decision.     But  that's  not  really  the  reason.     I 
simply  cannot  and  will  not  do  it.     And  how  could 
I? 

Victor  Karenin  :    Let  us  go  to  my  home  now. 
I  shall    tell  them    that  you    will    return,    and    to- 

j    „      morrow 

Fedya  :    And  to-morrow,  what  then  ?    It  will  be 

^,    all  the  same.    I'll  be  I,  and  she'll  be  she  (goes  to  the 

'.    '*^^    table  and  takes  a  drink.)    A  tooth  should  be  pulled 

out  at  the  first  attempt.    I  told  her,  you  know,  that 

\  ^    if  I  should  break  my  word  again,  she  should  throw 

5       "    me  over.    I  broke  it:  that  ends  it  all. 

Victor  Karenin  :  For  you,  but  not  for  her. 
Fedya:     Strange  that  you  should  be  so  anxious 
^    ^  that  our  union  should  not  be  broken, 
\   ^       Victor  Karenin  :     {is  about  to  say  something. 
^^  Masha  approaches.) 

^'  Fedya:  {interrupting  him.)  Just  hear  how  she 
sings  "Through  the  fields  a-sowing  flax."  Masha! 
{the  gipsies  gather.) 

Masha:  {in  a  whisper.)  I  say,  let's  sing  a  toast 
to  the  stranger! 

Fedya:  {laughingly)  A  toast  to  Victor  Michail- 
ovich !  {the  gipsies  sing.) 

Victor  Karenin  :  {listens  in  embarrassment,  then 
asks:)    How  much  shall  I  give  them? 
Fedya  :    Twenty-five  will  do. 
Victor  Karenin:  {gives  them  the  money.) 
Fedya:     Marvelous!    Now  let's  have  "Through 
the  fields  a-sowing  flax."  {the  gipsies  sing.) 

Fedya:  {looking  around.)  Karenin  has  skipped! 
Well,  to  the  deuce  with  him!  {the  gipsies  scatter.) 


30  THE   LIVING   CORPSE. 

SCENE  VI. 

Fedya:  (sitti7ig  dozvn  with  Masha)  Do  you  know 
who  that  was? 

Masha:  I  heard  his  name. 

Fedya:  He's  an  excellent  chap.  He  came  to  take 
me  home  to  my  wife.  She  lo_ves  me,  as  big  a  fool 
as  I  am,  and  this  is  the  way  I  behave ! 

Masha:  Well,  it's  mean  of  you.  You  ought  to 
go  to  her.    You  ought  to  pity  her. 

Fedya  :   You  think  I  should  ?    I  think  I  shouldn't. 

Masha:  Naturally,  if  you  don't  love  her,  then 
you  needn't.    But  love  is  a  fine  thing. 

Fedya:   How  do  you  know? 

Masha  :  I  simply  know  ;  that's  all. 

Fedya:  Well,  kiss  me.  Boys!  Once  more 
"Through  the  fields,"  and  then  an  end  to  it.  {the 
gipsies  commence  singing.) 

Fedya:  Ah,  glorious !„  If  there  were  only  no 
awakening .    Just  to;  di?  like  this . 


ACT  II. 


TABLEAU  I. 


Two  weeks  have  passed  since  the  first  act.  Liza's 
home.  Karenin  and  Anna  Pavlovna  are  sitting  in 
the  dining-room.    Sasha  enters. 


SCENE   I. 

Victor  Karenin  :    Well  ? 

Sasha:  The  doctor  says  the  danger  is  over. 
Only  v/e  have  to  beware  of  a  cold. 

Anna  Pavlovna:    And  Liza  is  all  worn  out. 

Sasha:  He  says  it  is  false  croup  of  a  mild  sort. 
{pointing  to  a  basket.)  What's  this? 

Anna  Pavlovna:  Those  are  grapes  that  Victor 
brought. 

Victor  Karenin  :   \\'on't  you  have  some  ? 

Sasha:  Yes,  she'll  like  them.  She  has  become 
very  nervous. 

Victor  Karenin:  Two  nights  without  sleep, 
without  food. 

Sasha:  (smiling)  But  you  didn't  sleep,  either. 

Victor  Karenin -T^that's  another  matter. 

SCENE  II. 

The  same.   Enter  Liza  and  the  Doctor. 
Doctor:    {impressively)      That's  right.     Change 
it  every  half  hour  if  he's  not  asleep.    If  he's  asleep, 


32  THE    LIVING    CORPSE. 

don't  disturb  him.     You  needn't  paint  his  throat.       J^ 
The  temperature  of  the  room  is  to  be  kept  constant,        i 

Liza:    And  if  he  has  a  choking  spell  again? 

Doctor:    He  won't.     But  if  he  should — use  the 
powders.    In  addition,  give  him  one  in  the  morning      .  r 
and  one  in  the  evening.    I'll  write  out  the  prescrip- 
tion at  once. 

Anna  Pavlovna:  Won't  you  have  some  tea, 
Doctor? 

Doctor:  No,  thank  you.  My  patients  are  wait- 
ing, (sitting  down  at  the  table.)  (Sasha  brings 
hint  pen  and  ink.) 

Liza  :    Are  you  sure  it's  not  the  croup  ?  > 

Doctor:    {smiling)  Absolutely,  (writes.)  ; 

Victor  Karenin:   (to  Lisa.)    Have    some   tea,      .-^ 
then,  or,  still  better,  go  and  rest;  just  look  at  your- 
self and  see  what  you  look  like ! 

Liza:   Now  I'm  myself  again.    Thank  you.  What         ^^ 

a  true  friend  you've  been  to  me !  (pressing  his  hand.)        ^ 

(Sasha  turns  away  in  disgust.)  ~f 

Liza  :   Thanks,  dear  friend.   That's  how  a  dear — 

Victor  Karenin  :  What  have  I  done?  There's 
certainly  nothing  to  thank  me  for.  ^ 

Liza:  And  who  sat  up  nights?  Who  brought 
the  specialist? 

Victor  Karenin  :  I  am  amply  rewarded  by  the 
fact  that  Misha  is  out  of  danger,  and  above  all — by 
your  appreciation. 

Liza:  (presses  his  hand  again  and  laughs,  show- 
ing him  a  coin  that  she  held  in  her  hand)  That's 
for  the  Doctor.  But  I  never  know  how  to  give  it 
to  him. 

Victor  Karenin  :    Neither  do  I. 

Liza  :  Think  of  giving  money  to  a  doctor !  He 
has  saved  what  is  dearer  to  me  than  my  life,  and  in 


'■:» 


THE    LIVING   CORPSE.  33 

return  I  offer  him  money.  There's  something  so 
vulgar  about  it.  ^     ,5<^<  >  •  ''P  /  i '  '^^  - 

Anna  Pavlovna:  Let  me  have  it;  I'll  give  it  to 
him.    I  know  how.    It's  very  simple. 

Doctor:  {rising  and  handing  her  the  prescrip- 
tion.) Dissolve  one  of  these  powders  thoroughly  in 
a  tablespoonful  of  boiled  water  and — {continues.) 

{Karenin  at  the  table,  drinking  tea.  Anna  Pav- 
lovna and  Sasha  step  into  the  foreground.) 

Sasha:  I  cannot  endure  their  behaviour.  She 
acts  just  as  if  she  were  in  love  with  him. 

Anna  Pavlovna:  What's  there  so  strange  about 
that? 

Sasha:  It's  disgusting. 

Doctor:  {departs,  bidding  them  all  good-bye. 
Anna  Pavlovna  takes  him  to  the  door.) 


SCENE  III. 

Liza,  Karenin,  Sasha. 

Liza:  {to  Karenin)  He's  such  a  dear  now.  As 
soon  as  he  felt  better  he  began  to  smile  and  prattle, 
ril  go  to  him.  And  yet  I  don't  want  to  leave  you 
alone,  either. 

Victor  ICarenin  :  But  have  some  tea,  have  some- 
thing to  eat. 

Liza  :  I  don't  need  an)rthing  now.  1  feel  so  well, 
now  that  all  the  torture  is  over,  {sobbing.) 

Victor  Karenin  :  There  now,  you  see  how  weak 
you  are ! 

Liza:  I  am  happy.  Don't  you  want  to  look  at 
him? 

Victor  Karenin  :    Why,  of  course. 

Liza:    Come  along,  {they  go  out.) 


34  THE   LIVING   CORPSE. 

SCENE  IV. 

Anna  Pavlovna  {enters),  Sasha. 

Anna  Pavlovna:  {to  Sasha.)  Why  are  you 
looking  as  solemn  as  an  owl?  I  handed  it  to  him 
very  nicely,  and  he  took  it,  too. 

Sasha  :  It's  sickening.  She  took  him  along  with 
her  into  the  nursery,  as  if  he  were  her  fiance  or  her 
husband. 

Anna  Pavlovna:  What  do  you  care?  What  are 
you  fuming  about?  Perhaps  you  wanted  to  marry 
him? 

Sasha:  I!  that  poker?  I  would  rather  marry 
I  don't  know  whom  than  him.  I  never  even  gave 
it  a  thought.  I  am  only  disgusted  that  Liza  can  get 
on  such  intimate  terms  with  a  stranger,  after  Fed- 
ya. 

Anna  Pavlovna:  A  fine  stranger  indeed!  A 
childhood  friend! 

Sasha  :  But  I  see  by  their  smiles,  their  eyes,  that 
they  are  in  love  with  one  another. 

Anna  Pavlovna:  What's  there  so  strange  about 
that?  He  took  the  child's  illness  so  much  to  heart, 
showed  so  much  sympathy  and  was  so  helpful. 
Naturally  she's  grateful ;  and,  besides,  why  shouldn't 
she  fall  in  love  with  Victor  and  marry  him  ? 

Sasha  :  That  would  be  terrible,  disgusting !  Dis- 
gusting!    ,t^<^(ufe-    ^^(^ 


SCENE  V. 

Karenin  and  Liza  enter. 

Victor  Karenin:  {takes  leave  silently.) 

Sasha:  {goes  out  in  anger.) 


THE   LIVING   CORPSE.  35 

SCENE  VI. 

Anna  t'avlovna  and  Liza. 

Liza:   {to  her  mother.)  What's  the  matter  with 
her? 

Anna  Pavlovna  :    I  really  don't  know. 
Liza:  (sighs  silently.) 


TABLEAU  IL 


In   Afremov's   den.     Glasses    filled    with    wine. 
Guests. 


SCENE  L 

Afremov,  Fedya,  Stachov  {shaggy,  unkempt), 
Butkevich  {smooth-faced),  Korotkov  {a  hanger- 
on). 

KoROTKOv:  And  I  tell  you  she'll  be  left  at  the 
post!  "La  Belle  Boas"  can't  be  matched  in  Europe. 
What'U  you  bet  ? 

Stachov  :  Hold  your  horses,  old  boy  !  You  know 
well  enough  that  nobody  believes  a  word  of  what 
you  say,  and  that  no  one  will  take  you  up. 

Korotkov  :  I  tell  you  that  your  Kartush  will  be 
left  at  the  post. 

Afremov:  Stop  quarreling!  Here's  a  way  out 
of  it !    Ask  Fedya  ;  he'll  tell  you  the  truth. 

Fedya  :  Both  horses  are  good.  It  all  depends  on 
the  jockey. 

Stachov:  Gusev  is  a  rascal.  You  have  to  keep 
an  eye  on  him. 

KoROTKOv:  {shouting.)     It  isn't  so! 

Fedya:  There  now,  just  a  moment;  let  me  settle 
this  for  you.    Who  won  the  Derby  ? 


36  THE   LIVING   CORPSE. 

KoROTKOv:  He  won  it,  but  that  doesn't  signify 
anything.  It  was  mere  luck.  If  Krakus  hadn't 
fallen  sick look !  {lackey  enters.) 


SCENE  II. 

The  same,  and  the  lackey. 

Afremov  :    What  is  it  ? 
^  Lackey  :    There's  a  lady  here — she  wants  to  see 
Feodor  Vasilyevich. 

Afremov  :    What  sort  of  a  lady  ?    A  real  one  ? 

Lackey  :    I  can't  tell,  she  looks  like  a  real  one. 

Afremov:    Fedya,  a  lady  wants  to  see  you. 

Fedya:  {frightened)    Who  is  it? 

Afremov:    He  doesn't  know. 

Lackey  :   I'll  ask  her  into  the  parlor,  anyhow. 

Fedya:    Wait,  I'll  go  and  see.     {Fedya  and  the 
lackey  go  out.) 


SCENE  III. 

The  same,  without  Fedya  and  the  lackey. 

Korotkov:  Who  can  want  him? — I  suppose  it's 
Masha. 

Stachov:     Whom  do  you  mean? 

Korotkov:  The  gipsy-girl.  She's  in  love  with 
him.    And  she  loves  him  as  a  cat  loves. 

Stachov  :  She's  a  dear  girl !  And  how  she 
sings ! 

Afremov:  Wonderfully!  Tanyusha  and  she. 
Yesterday  they  sang,  together  with  Peter 

Stachov  :    There's  a  lucky  dog  for  you ! 

Afremov:  Because  the  women  folks  like  him? 
God  help  them ! 


THE   LIVING  CORPSE.  37 

KoROTKOv:  I  can't  stand  those  gipsy  girls — 
there's  nothing  chic  about  them. 

BuTKEViCH :    Don't  say  that ! 

KoROTKOv:  I  would  exchange  them  all  for  one 
French  girl. 

Afremov:  You're  a  well-known  judge  of  beauty. 
I  think  I'll  go  and  see  who  it  is — {goes  out.) 


SCENE  IV. 

The  same,  without  Afremov. 

Stachov  :  If  it's  Masha,  bring  her  in.  We'll  make 
her  sing  something.  No,  gipsies  aren't  what  they 
used  to  be.  There  was  one  of  them,  Tanyusha — 
Ah  ! — There's  no  one  like  her ! 

BuTKEviCH :    But  I  think  they're  all  alike. 

Stachov:  How  can  you  say  that,  knowing  that 
insipid  ballads  have  taken  the  place  of  beautiful 
songs  ? 

BuTKEViCH :  There  are  some  beautiful  ballads, 
too. 

KoROTKOv:  What  will  you  wager  that  I  will 
have  her  sing  something  and  you  will  not  be  able  to 
tell  whether  it's  a  ballad  or  a  song? 

Stachov  :   As  usual,  Korotkov  is  ready  to  bet. 


SCENE  V. 

The  same,  and  Afremov. 

Afremov:  {enters)  Gentlemen,  it  is  not  Masha. 
And  there's  no  other  room  but  this  one  to  receive 
the  visitor  in.  Let's  go  into  the  billiard  room_. 
{They  all  go  out.) 


38  THE   LIVING   CORPSE. 

SCENE  VI. 

Enter  Fedya  and  Sasha. 

Sasha:  (confused)  Fedya,  forgive  me  if  I  am 
embarrassing  you ;  but  for  goodness'  sake,  listen  to 
me.  (Her  voice  is  trembling.) 

Fedya:  (pacing  the  room).  (Sasha  has  seated 
herself  and  looks  at  him.) 

Sasha:  Fedya,  come  back  home. 

Fedya:  Listen,  Sasha,  I  understand  you  very 
well.  Sasha,  my  dear,  I  would  have  done  the  same 
in  your  place.  I  would  have  tried  to  somehow  re- 
store everything  to  its  former  state ;  but  were  you 
in  my  place,  dear,  sensitive  Httle  girl,  as  strange  as 
it  may  sound — were  you  in  my  place,  you  would 
surely  have  done  what  I  did,  that  is,  you  would 
have  gone  away,  you  would  have  refused  to  be  in 
the  way  of  another  person's  happiness. 

Sasha:  What  do  you  mean  by  "in  the  way?" 
Do  you  think  that  Liza  can  live  without  you  ? 

Fedya  :  Ah,  my  dear,  darling  Sasha,  she  can, 
yes,  she  can,  and  she  vrill  still  be  happy,  much  hap- 
pier than  with  me. 

Sasha:    Never! 

Fedya:  That's  what  yoii  imagine,  (holding  her 
hand  in  his.)  But  that  isn't  it.  The  main  thing  is 
that  I  can't,  you  see.  You  know  how  it  is — take  a 
piece  of  card-board  and  bend  it  this  way  and  that, 
you  may  bend  it  a  hundred  times  without  breaking 
it,  but  bend  it  once  more  and  you'll  break  it.  That's 
the  way  it  is  with  Liza  and  me.  It  hurts  me  too 
much  to  look  her  in  the  face,  and  she  feels  the  same 
way,  believe  me. 

Sasha  :  No,  no ! 

Fedya:  You  say  no,  but  you  know  it's  so. 


-M 


THE    LIVING    CORPSE.  39  ^_ 

Sasha:  I  only  judge  by  myself.  If  I  were  in  ^ 
her  place  and  you  told  me  what  you're  telling  me  •^^ 
now — I  should  have  felt  perfectly  miserable.  '■; 

Fedv'a:    Yes,  you  would — X^silence;  both  are  em-       ". 
^nassed.)  ~~~ 

"Sasha:   (rising)   Must  things  really  remain  this 
way  f" 


Fedya:  There's  no  help  for  it 

Sasha:  Fedya,  come  back. 

Fedya  :  Thank  you,  dear  Sasha.  You  will  always 
hold  a  dear  place  in  my  memory.  Well,  good-bye, 
my  dear.    Let  me  kiss  you.     (Kisses  her  forehead.) 

Sasha:  (Excited)  No,  I  won't  say  good-bye,  I 
don't  believe  it,  I  can't  believe  it — Fedya ! 

Fedya  :  Well,  then  listen.  Only  promise  that 
you'll  not  repeat  what  I  am  about  to  tell  you.  Do 
you  promise? 

Sasha:    Certainly. 

Fedya:  Listen,  then,  Sasha.  It  is  true  I  am  her 
husband,  the  father  of  her  child,  but  I  am  in  the 
way.  Wait,  just  a  moment,  don't  contradict  me. 
You  think  I  am  jealous?  Not  one  bit.  In  the  first 
place  I  have  no  right  to  be,  and  in  the  second  place 
I  have  no  cause.  Victor  Karenin  is  an  old  friend 
of  hers  and  of  mine  too.  And  he  loves  her  and  she 
loves  him. 

Sasha  :    It's  not  true. 

Fedya:  She  loves  as  any  honest,  pure  woman 
loves,  who  does  not  allow  herself  to  love  anybody 
but  her  husband.  But  she  loves  and  is  going  to  love 
him  openly  when  this  obstacle  (pointing  to  himself) 
has  been  removed  and  I  am  removing  it,  and  they 
will  be  happv.     (his  voice  trembles.) 

Sasha  :    Fedya,  don't  say  that. 

Fedya  :  You  know  very  well  that  it  is  true,  and 
I  shall  rejoice  in  their  happiness,  and  this  is  the 


-4a_ 


40  THE   LIVING   CORPSE. 

best  that  I  can  do — I  shall  not  return,  I  tell  you,  and 
I  shall  give  them  their  freedom — and  that's  what 
you  must  tell  them .  Don't,  don't .  Good- 
bye! (Kisses  her  on  the  forehead  and  opens  the 
door.) 

Sasha  :    Fedya,  I  admire  you ! 

Fedya:     Good-bye,  good-bye .    (Sasha  goes 

out.) 


SCENE  VII. 

Fedya,  alone. 

Fedya:      Yes,     yes — wonderful,     excellent- 
(Rings.)  -],\<^    ^■'■ 


SCENE  VIII. 

Fedya  and  the  lackey. 
Fedya:    Call  your  master. 


SCENE  IX. 
Fedya  :   It's  true,  it's  true 


SCENE  X. 

Afremov  enters. 
Fedya:    Let  us  go  out. 
Afremov  :    How  did  you  manage  things  ? 
Fedya  :     Fine !  "She  vowed  and  she  promised." 
Excellently !    Where  is  everybody  ? 

Afremov  :   They're  playing  billiards  upstairs. 
Fedya  :  Very  well,  let's  go  over  there  for  a  while., 


ACT  III. 

TABLEAU  I. 
Characters. 

Prince  Ahrezkov^  a  well-dressed  bachelor  of  sixty, 
zvith  a  mustache,  a  dignified,  serious-looking  old 
soldier.  Anna  Dmitrievna  Karenina  (Victor's 
mother,)  grande  dame  of  Hfty,  who  tries  to  appear 
youthful;  she  uses  French  expressions  every  now 
and  then.  Also  Victor,  Lisa  and  the  lackey. 

(Anna  Dmitrievna' s  botidoir,  simply  yet  sumptu- 
ously furnished,  and  full  of  souvenirs.) 


SCENE  I. 

Anna  Dmitrievna  and  the  lackey. 
Lackey:   (announces)   Prince  Sergey  Abrezkov. 
Anna  Dmitrievna  :  Show  him  in.  (Turns  around 
and  tidies  herself  before  the  mirror.) 


SCENE  IL 

Prince  Abrezkov:  (entering)  J'espere  que  je 
ne  force  pas  la  consigne.    (Kissing  her  hand.) 

Anna  Dmitrievna:  You  know  that  vous  etes 
tou jours  le  bienvenu,  and  just  now  especially  so. 
Did  you  receive  my  note  ? 


42  THE   LIVING   CORPSE. 

Prince  Abrezkov  :   Yes.   And  this  is  my  answer. 

Anna  Dmitrievna:  Ah,  my  friend,  I'm  getting 
desperate.  II  est  ensorcele,  positivement  ensor- 
cele.  I  never  knew  him  to  be  so  persistent,  so  ob- 
stinate, so  heartless  and  indifferent  to  me.  He's  an 
altogether  different  person  since  that  woman  threw 
her  husband  over. 

Prince  Abrezkov:  Well,  what  is  the  matter? 
What  does  he  want  ? 

Anna  Dmitrievna:  He  wants  to  marry  her,  at 
any  cost. 

Prince  Abrezkov:  And  what  about  her  hus- 
band? 

Anna  Dmitrievna:  He  is  willing  to  give  her  a 
divorce. 

Prince  Abrezkov:    Is  that  so! 

Anna  Dmitrievna:  And  Victor  is  ready  to 
plunge  right  into  it,  into  all  the  mire,  into  all  that 
mess  of  lawyers  and  testimony.  Tout  ca  est  degou- 
tant.  Yet  all  that  doesn't  discourage  him.  I  don't 
understand  him.  With  all  his  sensitiveness  and  shy- 
ness, he — 

Prince  Abrezkov: — is  in  love.     Ah,  if  a  man 
J,  is  really  in  love 

Anna  Dmitrievna:     Yes,  but  why  could  love 
'  in  our  days  be  pure,  uniting  people  by  bonds  of 

friendship  that  lasted  through  life?    That's  the  kind 
"'^         of  love  I  understand  and  value. 

Prince  Abrezkov:     Nowadays  the  new  genera- - ^ ^.^^ 
tion  is  not  satisfied  witTi  such  ideal  relations.     La 
possession  de  I'ame  ne  leur  suffit  pas.     We  cannot 
change  that !    But  what  about  him  ? 

Anna  Dmitrievna:  What  shall  I  tell  you  of 
him?  He  is  as  if  under  a  spell.  He  is  no  longer 
his  former  self.  You  know — I  went  to  see  her.  He 
begged  me  so  much.     I  went  over,  but  did  not  find 


THE   LIVING  CORPSE.  43 

her  in,  and  left  my  card.  EUe  m'a  fait  demander 
si  je  ne  pourrais  la  recevoir.  So  I'm  expecting  her 
soon  {looking  at  the  clock),  at  about  two  o'clock. 
I  promised  Victor  to  receive  her,  but  just  imagine 
the  position  I  am  in !  I  am  not  altogether  myself ; 
and  by  force  of  habit  I  sent  for  you,  for  I  need  your 
help. 

Prince  Abrezkov:    Thank  you. 

Anna  Dmitrievna:  You  must  realize  that  this 
visit  of  hers  will  determine  everything,  Victor's 
whole  life.  I  must  either  refuse  to  give  my  consent 
or — but  how  can  I  ? 

Prince  Abrezkov:    Do  you  know  her  at  all? 

Anna  Dmitrievna:  I  have  never  seen  her.  But 
I'm  afraid  of  her.  _A  good  woman  could  not  pos- 
sibly decide  to  leave  her  husband,  especially  since 
he  is  such  a  good  man.  He  is  a  friend  of  Victor's, 
you  know,  and  used  to  come  to  our  house.  He  was 
charming.  And  even  if  he  weren't.  Quelsque 
soient  les  torts  qu'il  a  en  vis-a-vis  d'elle,  a  woman 
should  never  leave  her  husband;  she  should  bear 
her  _cross.  One  thing  I  cannot  understand — and 
that  is  how  Victor,  with  his  principles,  can  think  of 
marrying  a  divorced  woman!  How  many  times — 
why,  only  a  short  time  ago,  he  had  a  hot  argument 
with  Spitzyn,  in  my  presence,  proving  that  divorce 
is  contrary  to  the  spirit  of  Christianity,  and  now 
he  acts  against  his  own  convictions.     Si  elle  a  pu 

lui  charmer  a  une  telle  point .      I  am  afraid 

of  her.  I  called  you,  however,  to  get  your  advice, — 
and  here  I  am  doing  all  the  talking!  What  is 
your  opinion?  Tell  me!  How  do  you  feel  about 
it?  What  do  you  think  should  be  done?  Did  you 
speak  to  \''ictor  ?  "'  " 

Prince  Abrezkov:  I  did,  and  I  think  he  really 
loves  her;  quite  unawares,  he  has  grown  to  love 


44  THE   LIVING   CORPSE. 

her  deeply ;  this  love  has  taken  strong  possession  of 
him;  you  know  how  slow  he  is  to  make  up  his 
mind;  so  much  the  harder  to  make  him  change  it 
once  it  is  made  up.  What  has  once  entered  his 
heart  will  not  be  rooted  out ;  he  will  love  no  one 
but  her ;  and  he  will  never  be  happy  with  another. 

Anna  Dmitrievna:  And  to  think  how  ready 
Varya  Kazantseva  would  have  been  to  marry  him! 
What  a  charming  girl,  and  how  she  loves  him ! 

Prince  Abrezkov:  (smiling)  C'est  compter  sans 
son  bote.  That  is  altogether  out  of  the  question 
now.  And  I  think  it  would  be  best  to  give  in  and 
help  him  get  married. 

Anna  Dmitrievna:  To  a  divorced  woman,  so 
that  he  should  meet  his  wife's  husband?  I  don't 
understand  how  you  can  say  that  so  calmly!  Is 
that  the  sort  of  a  woman  a  mother  could  wish  to 
see  her  only  son  married  to?  And  such  a  son  as 
mine? 

Prince  Abrezkov  :  But  what  is  to  be  done,  dear 
friend?  Of  course,  it  would  be  better  if  he  were 
to  marry  a  girl  whom  you  knew  and  loved ;  but  if 

that  is   impossible .    And  besides,   what  if   he 

had  married  a  gipsy,  or  heaven-knows-whom  ?  And 
Liza  Protasova — is  a  very  nice,  amiable  woman.  I 
know  of  her  through  my  niece  Nellie.  She  is  a 
kind,  gentle,  loving,  pure  woman. 

Anna  Dmitrievna:  A  pure  woman,  who  decides 
to  throw  her  husband  over? 

Prince  Abrezkov:  This  is  not  at  all  like  you. 
You  are  unkind  and  unfair.  Her  husband  is  one 
of  those  men  of  whom  it  may  be  said  that  they  are 
their  own  worst  enemies.  But  he  is  a  still  greater 
enemy  to  his  wife.  He  is  a  weak,  depraved  man. 
a  drunkard.  He  has  squandered  his  own  fortime. 
and  all  of  hers  too, — and  don't  forget  that  she  has 


THE   LIVING   CORPSE.  45 

a  child.  How  can  you  blame  a  woman  for  leaving 
such  a  husband?  Besides,  it  wasn't  she  who  left 
him,  but  he  who  left  her. 

Anna  Dmitrievna  :  Oh,  what  filth,  what  mire ! 
And  I  have  to  besmirch  myself  with  it ! 

Prince  Abrezkov:  And  what  does  your  religion 
teach  you  to  do  ? 

Anna  Dmitrievna:  Yes,  yes, — forgiveness.  "As 
we  forgive  our  debtors."  Mais  c'est  plus  fort  que 
moi. 

Prince  Abrezkov  :  How  could  she  live  with  such 
a  person,  pray?  Even  if  she  didn't  love  anyone  else, 
it  was  right  for  her  to  have  done  what  she  did,  for 
the  sake  of  her  child.  The  husband  himself,  who 
is  a  kind  and  reasonable  man,  when  he  has  his  wits 
about  him,  advised  her  to  do  it . 


SCENE  HI. 

Anna  Dmitrievna,  Prince  Abrezkov;  Victor 
enters.  (Kisses  his  mother's  hand,  and  greets  Prince 
Abrezkov.) 

Victor  Karenin:  Mamma,  I  came  to  tell  you 
just  one  thing.  Elizaveta  Andreevna  will  be  here 
soon,  and  I  ask  and  beg  you  to  do  only  this :  \i  you 
persist  in  refusing  to  give  your  consent  to  my  mar- 
riage  

Anna  Dmitrievna:  {interrupting  him)  Of 
course  I  shall  persist  in  refusing  to  give  my  con- 
sent. 

Victor  Karenin  :  {continuing  to  talk,  and  frown- 
ing) I  have  only  one  request  to  make  of  you :  Don't 
mention  your  unwillingness  to  consent,  and  don't 
make  up  your  mind  too  soon. 


46  THE   LIVING   CORPSE. 

Anna  Dmitrievna:  I  don't  think  I  shall  care 
to  discuss  the  matter.  I,  for  one,  shall  certainly  not 
broach  the  subject. 

Victor  Karenin:  Neither  will  she.  I  only 
wanted  that  you  should  get  to  know  her. 

Anna  Dmitrievna:  There  is  one  thing  I  can- 
not understand  and  that  is,  how  you  reconcile  your 
desire  to  marry  Madame  Protasov,  whose  husband 
is  living,  with  your  religious  principles  that  di- 
vorce is  contrary  to  Christianity  ? 

Victor  Karenin  :  Mamma,  it's  cruel  of  you ! 
Do  you  mean  to  say  that  we  are  all  so  infallible  that 
we  cannot  deviate  from  our  opinions,  when  life  is 
so  complex  ?  Mamma,  why  are  you  so  cruel  to 
me? 

Anna  Dmitrievna:  I  love  you,  and  I  want  to 
see  you  happy. 

Victor  Karenin:  {to  Prince  Abreskov)  Sergey 
Dmitrievich ! 

Prince  Abrezkov:  Of  course  you  want  to  see 
him  happy,  but  we  greyheads  cannot  understand  the 
young  people.  It  is  especially  hard  for  a  mother 
who  has  become  accustomed  to  her  own  idea  of  her 
son's  happiness.    All  women  are  like  that. 

Anna  Dmitrievna:  That's  just  it.  Everybody 
is  against  me.    Of  course,  you  may  do  as  you  please, 

You're   of   age,   vous   etes   majeur .     But   you 

will  break  my  heart. 

Victor  Karenin  :  This  is  so  unlike  you !  This  is 
worse  than  cruelty. 

Prince  Abrezkov :  {to  Victor)  Stop,  Victor. 
Mamma  always  says  more  than  she  means. 

Anna  Dimitrievna:  I  shall  say  what  I  feel  and 
think,  and  I  shall  do  so  without  hurting  her  feel- 


mgs. 


Prince  Abrezkov:    We  don't  doubt  it. 


THE   LIVING   CORPSE.  47 

SCENE  IV. 

Anna  Dmitrievna,  Prince  Abrezkov,  Victor;  the 
lackey  {enters). 

Prince  Abrezkov:    Here  she  is. 

Victor  Karenin  :   I  shall  go  to  receive  her. 

Lackey:    Elizaveta  Andreevna  Protasova. 

Victor  Karenin  :  I'm  going.  Mamma,  please — . 
{leaves.) 

Prince  Abrezkov:  {also  rising.) 

Anna  Dmitrievna:  Show  her  in.  {to  Prince 
Abrezkov)  No,  remain  here. 


SCENE  V. 

Anna  Dmitrievna  and  Prince  Abrezkov. 

Prince  Abrezkov:  I  thought  you  would  feel 
more  at  ease  en  tete-a-tete. 

Anna  Dmitrievna:  No,  I  fear  it.  {restless)  If 
I  should  want  to  remain  tete-a-tete  with  her,  I  shall 
nod  to  you.  Qa  dependra.  Just  now  it  would  em- 
barrass me  to  remain  alone  with  her.  I  shall  signal 
to  you  like  this,     {makes  a  motion.) 

Prince  Abrezkov:  I  shall  understand.  I'm  sure 
you  will  like  her.     Only  be  fair  to  her. 

Anna  Dmitrievna:  To  think  that  you  are  all 
against  me ! 


SCENE  VI. 

Anna  Dmitrievna,  Prince  Abrezkov.  Liza  enters 
in  a  hat  and  afternoon-gozvn. 

Anna  Dmitrievna:  {rising)  I  was  sorry  not  to 
find  you  in,  but  you  have  been  kind  enough  to  come 
over  yourself. 


48  THE    LIVING   CORPSE. 

Liza:  I  never  expected  it.  I  am  so  grateful  to 
you  that  you  wanted  to  see  me. 

Anna  Dmitrievna:  Have  you  met?  {pointing 
to  Prince  Abrezkov.) 

Prince  Abrezkov:  Of  course,  I  have  had  the 
honor  of  meeting  Mme.  Protasov.  {shaking  hands, 
then  sits  down)  My  niece  Nellie  often  speaks  of 
you. 

Liza:  Yes,  we  were  good  friends,  {glancing 
timidly  at  Anna  Dmitrievna)  And  we  are  on  friendly 
terms  now  too.  {to  Anna  Dmitrievna)  I  never  ex- 
pected that  you  would  want  to  see  me. 

Anna  Dmitrievna:  I  knew  your  husband  well. 
He  was  friendly  with  Victor  and  used  to  call  on  us 
before  he  went  to  live  in  Tambov.  I  believe  it  was 
there  that  he  married  you? 

Liza:  Yes,  we  were  married  there. 

Anna  Dmitrievna:  And,  after  that,  when  he 
came  back  to  Moscow,  he  did  not  come  to  see  us 
any  more. 

Liza:    Yes,  he  hardly  went  anywhere. 

Anna  Dmitrievna:  And  he  never  arranged  for 
us  to  meet,  {awkward  silence.)    . 

Prince  Abrezkov:  The  last  time  I  saw  you 
was  at  the  Demisov's,  at  a  performance.  It  was 
very  enjoyable.    And  you  took  part  in  it. 

Liza  :  No — Oh  yes,  I  remember.  I  did  take  part. 
{again  silence)  Anna  Dmitrievna  forgive  me,  if 
what  I'm  going  to  say  will  hurt  you,  but  I  cannot, 
I  don't  know  how  to  conceal  my  feelings.  I  came 
because  Victor  Michailovich  said — because  he — that 
is  because  you  wanted  to  see  me — but  I  would  rather 
say  it  all — {sobbing) — my  heart  is  heavy — and  you 
are  so  kind. 

Prince  Abrezkov:    I  think  I'd  better  go. 


THE    LIVING   CORPSE.  49 

Anna  Dmitrievna:  Yes,  do. 
Prince  Abrezkov:   Good-bye.    (takes  leave   of 
the  two  women  and  goes  out.) 


SCENE  VII. 

Anna  Dmitrievna  and  Lisa. 

Anna  Dmitrievna  :  Listen.  Liza — I  don't  know 
your  full  name,  but  it  doesn't  matter. 

Liza  :    It's  Liza  Andreevna. 

Anna  Dmitrievna:  Well,  never  mind — Liza. 
I  am  ver>'  sorry  for  you,  I  like  you.  But  I  love  Vic- 
tor. He  is  the  only  being  in  this  world  I  love.  I 
know  his  soul  as  I  do  my  own.  His  is  a  proud  soul. 
He  was  proud  when  a  mere  boy — proud  not  of  his 
name  and  fortune,  but  of  his  purity,  his  moral  stand- 
ing ;  and  he  has  preserved  it.  He  is  as  innocent  as  a 
virgin. 

Liza  :  I  know  it. 

Anna  Dmitrievna  :  He  never  loved  any  woman 
before.  You  are  the  first  one.  I  won't  say  that  I  am 
not  jealous  of  you.  I  am.  But  we  mothers — your 
boy  is  still  small,  it's  too  early  for  you — we  are  pre- 
paring ourselves  for  it.  I  was  preparing  myself  to 
yield  him  to  a  wife  and  not  be  jealous.  But  to  yield 
him  only  to  one  as  pure  as  himself. 

Liza  :  I — do  you  mean  that  I . 

Anna  Dmitrievna:  Excuse  me,  I  know  it's  not 
your  fault,  but  you  are  unfortunate.  I  know  him, 
however.  At  present  he  is  ready  to  put  up  with 
everything  and  will  do  it;  but  he  will  suffer  and 
never  say  a  word.  His  wounded  pride  will  suffer 
and  he  will  be  unhappy. 

Liza  :    I  was  thinking  of  that  myself. 

Anna  Dmitrievna  :     Liza,  my  dear,  you  are  a 


so  THE   LIVING   CORPSE. 

sensible,  good  woman.  If  you  love  him  you  long 
for  his  happiness  more  than  for  your  own.  And 
if  that  is  the  case,  you  don't  want  to  tie  him  down 
and  make  him  regret  it,  though  he  will  never  say 
so — never. 

Liza:  I  know  he  will  not  say  it.  I  thought  of 
it  and  asked  myself  that  question.  I  thought  it 
over  and  spoke  to  him  about  it.  But  what  can  I 
do  if  he  says  he  doesn't  want  to  live  without  me?  I 
said:  Let  us  be  friends,  don't  dispose  of  your  life, 
don't  bind  your  pure  life  to  my  unfortunate  one. 
But  he  wouldn't  listen  to  me. 

Anna  Dmitrievna:     Yes,  he  doesn't  want  to 
listen  now. 
'^  Liza  :  Persuade  him  to  leave  me.    I  shall  be  satis- 

fied.    I  love  him  for  the  sake  of  his  happiness,  not 
^  mine.     Only  stand  by  me,  don't  hate  me.     Let  us 

seek  his  happiness  together,  in  a  spirit  of  love. 
Anna  Dmitrievna:     Yes,  yes,  I've  learned  to 
Svk;  love  you.  (kisses  her;  Lisa  weeps)  But  this  is  ter- 
-^  rible,  just  the  same,  terrible!    If  only  he  had  fallen 

in  love  with  you  before  you  decided  to  get  mar- 

,  ,  ried 

\  Liza:    He  says  he  did  learn  to  love  me  then,  but 

didn't  want  to  stand  in  the  way  of  his  friend's  hap- 
piness. 

Anna  Dmitrievna:     Oh,  how  pitiful  it  all  is! 
But  let  us  love  each  other,  just  the  same,  and  the 
!i  V  ^     Lord  will  help  us  to  see  our  way  clear. 


<Ss 


4 


^N^ 


SCENE  VIII. 

Anna  Dmitrievna,  Lisa  and  Victor. 
Victor    Karenin  :     (stepping  forth)     Mamma, 
dear,  I  heard  everything — I  expected  it !    You  have 


THE  LIVING  CORPSE.  51 

learned  to  love  her,  and  everything  will  turn  out 
well. 

Liza:  What  a  pity  that  you  heard  everything — 
I  would  not  have  spoken — 

Anna  Dmitrievna:  I  have  come  to  no  decision, 
just  the  same.  I  can  only  say  this,  that  were  it 
not  for  these  aggravating  circumstances,-  I  would 
have  been  very  much  pleased,  (kisses  her.) 

Victor  Karenin  :  Don't  change  your  mind, 
please. 


TABLEAU  II 


A  modestly  furnished  room,  a  bed,  writing  desk 
and  couch. 


SCENE  I. 

Fedya,  alone.  A  knock  at  the  door.  A  woman's 
voice  is  heard  from  behind  the  door:  "Why  did 
you  lock  yourself  in,  Feodor  Vasilyevich?  Fedya, 
open  the  door !" 


SCENE  II. 

Fedya  and  Masha. 

Fedya:  {rises  and  opens  the  door)  How  nice  of 
you  to  come !  I  was  lonesome,  very  lonesome. 

Masha:  Why  didn't  you  come  over  to  us? 
Drinking  again?  Oh,  you!  And  you  gave  me  your 
word! 

Fedya:    You  know,  all  my  money  is  gone. 


52  THE   LIVING   CORPSE. 

Masha  :   Why  did  I  learn  to  love  you ! 

Fedya  :   Masha ! 

Masha:  Yes,  Masha,  Masha.  If  you  loved  me 
you  would  have  been  divorced  long  ago.  They  were 
asking  you  for  it,  too.  You  say  that  you  don't  love 
her;  yet  you  cling  to  her.  Evidently  you  don't 
want 

Fedya  :  You  know  well  enough  why  I  don't  want 
to. 

Masha:  That's  all  nonsense.  They  are  right 
who  say  you  are  a  will-o'-the-wisp! 

Fedya:  What  shall  I  say?  To  say  that  your 
words  hurt  me  would  be  saying  what  you  already 
know. 

Masha  :    Nothing  hurts  you 

Fedya:  You  know  yourself  that  there  is  only 
one  joy  in  life  for  me — your  love. 

Masha:  My  love  is  what  it  should  be,  but  how 
about  yours? 

Fedya  :  Well,  I'm  not  going  to  assure  you  of  it, 
there's  no  need  of  it;  you  know  for  yourself. 

Masha:  Fedya,  why  do  you  torture  me? 

Fedya  :    I  should  like  to  know  who 

Masha:  {weeping)    You  are  mean. 

Fedya:  {goes  over,  and  embraces  her)  Masha, 
v/hat  are  you  crying  for  ?  Stop  it !  One  must  live 
and  not  whimper.  It  doesn't  become  you  at  all,  my 
little  beauty ! 

Masha  :  You  love  me  ? 

Fedya:  Whom  else  should  I  love? 

Masha:  Me  alone?  Well,  read  to  m.e  what  you 
have  written. 

Fedya:    It  will  bore  you. 

Masha:  Since  it's  you  who  have  written  it,  it 
must  be  all  right. 


THE   LIVING    CORPSE.  53 

Fedya:  Well,  listen,  (reads)  "In  the  late  fall 
we  agreed  with  our  comrades  to  meet  at  the  Mury- 
gin  landing-place.  That  landing-place  is  on  a 
reeky  island  abounding  in  wild  fowl.  It  was  a  dull, 
warm,  listless  day.    A  fog " 


SCENE  III. 

Fedya  and  Masha.  An  old  gipsy,  Ivan  Makaro- 
vich,  and  an  old  gipsy-woman,  Nastasya  Ivanomia, 
Masha's  parents,  enter. 

Nastasya  Ivanovna:  {approaching  her  daugh- 
ter) That's  where  you  are,  you  runaway!  Greet- 
ings to  you,  sir.  {to  her  daughter)  What  are  you 
doing  to  us  ?    Tell  me  ? 

Ivan  Makarovich  :  '{to  Fedya)  It's  not  fair, 
sir.  You're  ruining  the  girl.  It's  not  at  all  fair. 
You're  acting  mean. 

Nastasya  Ivanovna:  Put  on  your  shawl  and 
get  out  at  once!  What  do  you  mean  by  running 
away!  What'll  I  tell  the  chorus?  What  do  you 
mean  by  getting  in  with  a  beggar!     What  can  he 

give  you? 

Masha  :  I'm  not  getting  in  with  him.  I  love  him 
and  that's  all.  I'm  not  leaving  the  chorus.  I'll 
sing,  and  as  far 

Ivan  Makaeovich:  Say  another  word  and  I'll 
pull  your  hair  out,  you  good-for-nothing  imp! 
Whose  example  are  you  following?  Not  your 
father's,  nor  your  mother's,  nor  your  aunt's.  It's  a 
shame,  sir.  We  loved  you ;  how  often  did  we  sing 
to  you  for  nothing;  we  pitied  you.  And  what  did 
you  do  in  return? 

Nastasya  Ivanovna:  He  has  ruined  our  little 
girl,  our  own.  our  only  one;  he  has   dragged  our 


54  THE  LIVING   CORPSE. 

jewel,  our  treasure  into  the  mire — that's  what  he 
has  done.    You  have  no  conscience. 

Fedya:  Nastasya  Ivanovna,  you  suspect  me 
without  any  reason.  Your  daughter  is  Hke  a  sister 
to  me.  I  guard  her  honor,  and  you  will  need  have 
no  fear.  I  love  her — What  else  do  you  want  me 
to  do? 

Ivan  Makarovich  :  It's  strange  you  didn't  love 
her  when  you  had  money.  Then  you  might  have 
paid  the  chorus  about  ten  thousand  roubles,  say, 
and  could  have  taken  her  in  an  honorable  way.  And 
'now  you  have  squandered  everything  and  have 
taken  her  away  by  stealth.  Shame  on  you,  sir, 
shame  on  you ! 

Masha:  He  didn't  take  me  away,  I  came  to  him 
myself.  And  if  you  will  take  me  back  now,  I'll  go 
to  him  again.  I  love  him,  that's  all !  My  love  is 
stronger  that  all  your  bars — I  don't  want  to  re- 
turn with  you! 

Nastasya  Ivanovna  :  Well,  Masha,  darling,  don't 
get  angry.    You  did  wrong;  let's  go  now. 

Ivan  Makarovich  :  Well,  that'll  do.  Come ! 
(taking  her  by  the  hand)  Excuse  us,  sir.  {all  three 
leave.) 


SCENE  IV. 

Fedya,  Prince  Abrezkov  enters. 

Prince  Abrezkov  :  Excuse  me.  I  was  an  unin- 
tentional witness  of  an  unpleasant  scene. 

Fedya:  Whom  have  I  the  honor  of  addressing? 
{recognizing  him)  Ah,  Prince  Sergey  Dmitrievich. 
{shaking  hands.) 

Prince  Abrezkov:  I  said,  an  unintentional  wit- 
ness of  an  unpleasant  scene.  I  wish  I  could  have 
avoided  hearing  them.     But  since  I  have  heard  it 


THE   LIVING   CORPSE.  55 

all  I  consider  it  my  duty  to  tell  you  so.  I  was  di- 
rected to  this  room  and  had  to  wait  at  the  entrance 
until  those  people  left,  all  the  more  so  since  you 
could  not  have  heard  my  knocking  at  the  door  on 
account  of  their  loud  talking. 

Fedya:  Yes,  yes,  come  right  in,  please.  I  thank 
you  for  having  spoken  of  it,  for  it  gives  me  a  right 
to  explain  the  meaning  of  this  scene  to  you.  It 
doesn't  matter  what  you  will  think  of  me.  But  I 
wish  to  say  that  the  reproaches  which  you  heard 
them  hurl  at  this  girl — the  gipsy  singer — are  un- 
just. The  girl  is  as  pure  as  a  dove.  And  my  rela- 
tions to  her  are  merely  those  of  friendship.  If,  as 
may  well  be,  they  look  to  be  romantic,  that  doesn't 
destroy  the  purity  and  honor  of  this  girl.  That's 
what  I  wanted  to  tell  you.  Now,  what  is  it  that 
you  want  of  me?    What  can  I  do  for  you? 

Prince  Abrezkov:  In  the  first  place,  I 

Fedya  :  Excuse  me,  Prince.  My  present  position 
'  in  society  is  such  that  my  slight  and  remote  ac- 
quaintance with  you  does  not  entitle  me  to  a  visit 
from  you,  unless  you  are  here  on  some  business. 
Well,  what  is  it? 

Prince  Abrezkov:  I  will  not  deny  it;  you 
guessed  right.  I  am  here  on  business.  However, 
I  beg  you  to  believe  that  the  change  in  your  posi- 
tion can  in  no  way  influence  my  relation  to  you. 

Fedya:    I  am  quite  sure  of  that. 

Prince  Abrezkov:  I  am  here  because  I  have 
been  asked  by  the  son  of  my  old  friend,  Anna  Dmi- 
trievna  Karenina,  as  well  as  by  herself,  to  find  out 
directly  from  you  about  your  relations — I  hope  you 
will  not  mind  my  speaking  of  it — about  your  rela- 
tions to  your  wife,  Elizaveta  Andreevna  Protasova. 

Fedya:  My  relations  to  my  wife,  I  may  say  to 
my  former  wife,  are  all  ended. 


\k-V 


iTl- 


56  THE   LIVING    CORPSE. 

Prince  Abrezkov:  I  thought  so.  And  that's 
the  only  reason  why  I  undertook  this  difficult  com- 
mission. 

Fedya:  They  are  ended,  I  hasten  to  state,  not 
because  of  any  fault  of  hers,  but  because  of  my 
fault,  rather  because  of  my  unlimited  faults.  She, 
however,  is  as  she  has  always  been,  a  most  unre- 
proachable  woman. 

Prince  Abrezkov:  So  you  see,  Victor  Karenin, 
and  especially  his  mother,  have  asked  me  to  find  out 
from  you  just  what  your  intentions  are. 

Fedya:  (excited)  What  intentions? — I  have 
none.  I  give  her  complete  freedom.  More  than 
that,  I  shall  never  disturb  her  peace.  I  know  that 
she  loves  Victor  Karenin.  Well,  let  her.  I  con- 
sider him  a  great  bore,  but  otherwise  a  very  good, 
honest  man,  and  I  think  she  will  be  (as  one  usually 
puts  it)  happy  with  him.  And — que  le  bon  Dieu 
les  benisse !    That's  all. 

Prince  Abrezkov:  Yes,  but  we  should 

Fedya  :  (interrupting)  And  don't  think  that  I  am 
the  least  bit  jealous.  If  I  said  of  Victor  that  he  was 
a  bore,  I  take  back  that  word.  He  is  an  excellent, 
honest,  moral  man,  the  very  opposite  of  me.  And 
he  has  loved  her  from  his  childhood.  Perhaps  she, 
too,  loved  him  when  she  married  me.  That  hap- 
pens. The  best  love  is  the  kind  one  is  not  conscious 
of.  She  always  loved  him,  I  think,  but,  as  an  honest 
woman,  did  not  confess  it  even  to  herself.  But 
,  that — a  kind  of  shadow  was  thrown  over  our  mar- 

"^X  ried  life — However,  why  should  I  confess  all  this 
to  you  ? 

Prince  Abrezkov:  Please  do.  Believe  me  that 
the  most  important  thing  in  this  visit  is  my  desire  to 
fullv  understand  those  relations.    I  understand  vou. 


THE   LIVING   CORPSE.  S7 

I  understand  that  this  shadg;^,  as  you  so  well  ex- 
pressed it,  must  have  been—  'j 

Fedya:  It  certainly  was',  and  that's  perhaps  the 
reason  why  I  could  find  no  satisfaction  in  the  sort 
of  married  life  she  was  offering  nie.  I  was  longing 
for  something  else,  and  so  let  myself  be  carried 
away.  This,  however,  may  seem  as  if  I  were  trying 
to  justify  myself.  I  do  not  wish  to  justify  myself, 
nor  is  it  possible  for  me  to  do  so.  I  zvas,  I  pur- 
posely say  zvas,  a  bad  husband,  I  zvas,  because  now 
I  consider  myself  no  longer  her  husband.  I  con- 
sider her  perfectly  free.  So  there  you  have  an  ans- 
wer to  your  commission. 

Prince  Abrezkov:  But  you  know  Victor's  fam- 
ily and  himself.  His  relations  to  Elizaveta  And- 
reevna  always  were  and  continue  to  be  most  respect- 
ful and  formal.  He  helped  her  when  she  was  in 
trouble. 

Fepya:  Yes,  I  encouraged  their  intimacy  by  my 
loose  life.  What  can  be  done?  It  had  to  be  that 
way. 

Prince  Abrezkov  :  You  know  his  and  his  family's 
strict  orthodox  principles.  I  don't  share  them;  I 
look  upon  those  matters  from  a  broader  point  of 
view.  But  I  respect  and  understand  them.  I  un- 
derstand that  for  him,  and  especially  for  his  mother, 
any  union  with  a  woman,  without  the  sanction  of 
the  church,  is  out  of  the  question. 

Fedya:  Yes,  I  know  how  stup — how  straight- 
laced  and  conservative  he  is  in  this  respect.  But 
what  do  they  want?  A  divorce?  I  told  them  long  '■>, 
ago  that  I  was  willing  to  give  it,  but  to  have  to  take 
upon  myself  the  whole  guilt,  and  to  face  all  the  lies 
connected  with  it,  is  very  hard.  ^ 

Prince  Abrezkov:  I  fully  understand  you  and 
agree  with  you.    But  what  is  to  be  done  ?    I  think  it 


58  THE    LIVING    CORPSE. 

could  be  arranged- .  However,  you  are  right.  It's 

terrible,  and  I  sympathize  with  you. 

Fedya:  (pressing  his  hands)  Thanks,  dear  Prince. 
I  always  considered  you  a  good,  honest  man.  Now 
tell  me,  how  am  I  to  act?  What  shall  I  do?  Just 
realize  the  position  I  am  in.  I  don't  try  to  grow  bet- 
ter. I'm  a  good-for-nothing.  But  there  are  things 
which  I  cannot  do  calmly.  I  cannot  tell  a  lie  calmly. 
Prince  Abrezkov  :  I  don't  understand  you,  after 
all.  How  can  you,  an  able,  sensible  man,  so  sus- 
ceptible to  everything  that's  good — how  can  you 
let  yourself  be  carried  away,  how  can  you  so  forget 
what  you  owe  to  yourself  ?  How  did  you  reach  this 
stage,  how  did  you  ruin  your  life? 

Fedya:   (restraining    tears    of  emotion)   I  have 
been  leading  this  loose  Hfe  for  the  last  ten  years, 
and  this  is  the  first  time  that  a  man  in  your  station 
has  expressed  any  sympathy  for  me.    I  have  had  the 
sympathy  of  my  comrades,  of  sports,  of  women,  but 
of  a  sensible,  good  man  like  you —  Thank  you !  How 
did  I  fall  so  low?    Blame  it  upon  wine,  first  of  all. 
It  isn't  for  its  taste  that  I  like  it,  but  whatever  I 
do,  I  always  feel  that  I  am  not  doing  what  I  should, 
and  I  feel  ashamed  of  myself.    Just  now  I  am  talk- 
ing to  you,  and  I  feel  ashamed  of  myself.     And 
when  it  comes  to  being  a  leader,  holding  a  position 
in  a  bank — I'm  so  embarrassed,  so  ashamed  of  my- 
self— and  irs  only  when  you  take  a  drink  that  you 
cease  feeling  ashamed  of  anything.     And  music — 
not  operas  and  Beethoven,  but  gipsy  music — it's  in- 
spiring, it  fills  you  with  such  energy!     And  don't 
forget  those  lovely  black  eyes  and  smiles.     Yet  the 
more  entrancing  it  is,  the  more  ashamed  of  oneself 
one  feels  afterwards. 

Prince  Abrezkov:  Well,  and  how  about  work? 
Fedya:     I  tried  it.     Nothing  would  do.     I  was 


THE   LIVING   CORPSE.  59 

dissatisfied  with  everything.  However,  why  talk 
about  myself  ?    Thank  you. 

Prince  Abrezkov:  What  shall  I  say,  then? 

Fedya:  Say  that  I  will  do  what  they  want  me  to. 
They  want  to  get  married,  don't  they — they  want 
nothing  to  prevent  them  from  marrying? 

Prince  Abrezkov:  Of  course. 

Fedya:  I  will  do  it,  tell  them;  I  will  surely  do 
it. 

Prince  Abrezkov:  When? 

Fedya  :  Wait  a  while.  Well,  in  two  weeks,  let 
us  say.    Is  that  all  right? 

Prince  Abrezkov:  (rising)  So  I  may  tell  them 
that? 

Fedya:  You  may.  Good-bye,  Prince;  thank  you 
again. 

(Prince  Abrezkov  goes  out.) 


SCENE  V. 

Fedya,  alone. 

Fedya:  (sits  for  a  long  time,  smiling  silently) 
Good,  very  good.  That's  just  it;  that's  it,  that's  it! 
Excellent ! 


ACT  IV 


TABLEAU  I 

At  an  inn.    A  private  room.    The  zvaiter  ushers 
in  Fedya  and  Ivan  Petrovich  Aleksandrov. 


SCENE  I. 

Fedya,  the  waiter,  and  Ivan  Petrovich  {at  the 
door.) 

Waiter  :  Right  here,  please.  No  one  will  dis- 
turb you  here,  and  I  shall  bring  you  some  paper 
right  away. 

Ivan  Petrovich:    Protasov,  I  want  to  come  in. 

Fedya:  (seriously)  Come  in  if  you  want  to,  but 
I'm  busy  and Come  in. 

Ivan  Petrovich  :  You  are  going  to  reply  to  their 
demands?  I'll  tell  you  how  to  do  it.  I  wouldn't  go 
about  it  that  way.  I  always  talk  frankly  and  act 
determinately. 

Fedya:  (to  the  waiter)  A  bottle  of  champagne. 
(waiter  goes  out.) 


I 


SCENE  II. 


Fedya  and  Ivan  Petrovich.     (Fedya  takes  out  a 
revolver  and  puts  it  dozvn.) 
Fedya  :  Wait  a  while. 


THE   LIVING   CORPSE.  61 

Ivan  Petrovich:  What?  You  want  to  shoot 
yourself  ?  Go  ahead,  go  ahead !  I  understand  you. 
They  want  to  humiliate  you,  and  you'll  show  them 
who  you  are.  You'll  kill  yourself  with  a  revolver, 
and  them  with  your  magnanimity.  I  understand 
you.  I  understand  everything,  because  I  am  a 
genius. 

Fedya:  Of  course,  of  course.  Only — (zvaiter  en- 
ters with  paper  and  ink.) 


SCENE  III. 

Fedya,  Ivan  Petrovich,  and  the  waiter. 

Fedya:  {covers  the  revolver  wnth  a  napkin)  Open 
the  bottle.  Let's  drink.  {They  drink.)  {Fedya 
writes)  Wait  a  while. 

Ivan  Petrovich  :  Here's  to  your — long  journey ! 
'  I  am  above  all  that,  you  see.  I  will  not  attempt  to 
stop  you.  A  genius  is  equally  indifferent  to  life  and, 
death.  I  am  dead  during  life,  and  live  after  death. 
You  will  kill  yourself,  so  that  those  two  people 
should  pity  you.  And  I — I  shall  kill  myself,  so 
that  the  whole  world  should  realize  what  it  has  lost. 
I  shall  not  hesitate  or  reflect,  either.  I  take  it  {grasps 
the  revolver)  a  moment — and  it's  all  over.  But  the 
time  has  not  yet  come  for  it.  {Ptits  back  the  revol- 
ver) Nor  need  I  leave  any  notes  behind ;  they  ought 
to  understand  for  themselves.    Ah,  you 

Fedya  :  Stop  a  moment ! 

Ivan  Petrovich  :  How  pitiful  people  are !   They 
hurry  and  scurry,  and  yet  don't  understand,  don't      'f^ ''^ixJ-'^ 
comprehend  anything.     I'm  not  talking  to  you.    I         '' 
am  just  expressing  my  thoughts.     And  what  does 
humanity  need  ?     Very  little ;  only  to  learn  to  ap- 
preciate its  geniuses.    But  it  has  always  executed. 


62  THE   LIVING   CORPSE. 

persecuted,  and  tortured  them.  No — I  will  not  be 
your  toy!  I  shall  expose  you!  No-o-o-o.  Hypo- 
crites ! 

Fedya:  (has  finished  writing,  reads  while  drink- 
ing)   Go  away,  please. 

Ivan  Petrovich  :  Go  away  ?  Well,  good-bye.  I 
will  not  attempt  to  stop  you.  I'll  do  the  same.  But 
it's  yet  too  early.    I  only  want  to  tell  you 

Fedya  :  All  right ;  you'll  tell  me  a  little  lat^r,  but 
now  listen  to  this,  my  friend.  Please  give  this  to 
the  landlord  {handing  hint  some  money),  and  ask 
him  for  a  letter  and  a  package  in  my  name.  Please, 
do. 

Ivan  Petrovich  :  Very  well.  So  you'll  wait  for 
me?  I  have  something  important  to  tell  you,  some- 
thing that  you  will  have  no  chance  to  hear,  not  only 
in  this  world,  but  not  even  in  the  next  one,  at  least 
not  until  I  get  there.   Am  I  to  give  him  all  this? 

Fedya:  As  much  as  I  owe  him.  (Ivan  Petrovich 
goes  out.) 


SCENE  IV. 

Fedya,  alone. 

Fedya:  (breathes  a  sigh  of  relief,  closes  the  door 
after  Ivan  Petrovich,  takes  the  revolver,  raises  it, 
puts  it  to  his  temple,  shivers  and  lets  it  down  care- 
fully. Roars.) 

Fedya:  No,  I  cannot,  cannot,  cannot!  (knock  at 
the  door)  Who  is  it?  (Masha's  voice  behind  the 
door.    I!) 

Fedya:  Who  is  it?  Ah,  Masha!  (opens  the 
door.) 


THE    LIVING   CORPSE.  63 

SCENE  V. 

Fedya  and  Masha. 

Masha:  I  was  at  your  /oom,  at  Popov's,  at  Af- 
remov's,  and  finally  decided  that  you  must  be  here. 
(sees  the  revolver)  That's  nice!  There's  a  fool  for 
you !  A  fool  indeed !  Did  you  really  mean  to  do 
it? 

Fedya  :    No,  I  could  not. 

Masha  :  And  what  of  me  ?  You  heartless  man ! 
You  did  not  pity  me?  Ah,  Fedor  Vasilyevich,  it's 
a  sin,  a  sin !   For  my  love 

Fedya:  I  wished  to  set  them  free,  I  promised. 
And  I  cannot  lie. 

Masha:    And  what  of  me? 

Fedya:  I  would  have  broken  your  fetters,  too. 
Or  do  you  prefer  to  suffer  with  me  ? 

Masha:  Of  course  I  do.  I  cannot  live  without 
you. 

Fedya:  What  sort  of  a  life  is  this?  You  would 
have  wept  some  and  then  you  would  have  gone  on 
living. 

Masha:  Indeed,  I  would  not  have  wept  at  all! 
To  the  deuce  with  you,  if  you  have  no  pity  for  me 
(weeps.) 

"Fedya:     Masha,  my  love,  I^wanted  to  improve 
I  matters.  -^^^ 

■      Masha  :    Yes,  for  yourself. 
;     Fedya:  (smiling)  Hovf  would  I  have  been  bet- 
I  ter  off,  if  I  had  killed  myself  ? 

Masha:    Of  course  you  would  have  been  better ■i''^^*i;;:i 
off.    But  what  do  you  need?    Tell  me.  ^     ' 

Fedya  :  What  do  you  mean  ?    I  need  many  things. 

Masha:   Well,  what,  what? 

Fedya:    I  need,  first  of  all,  to  keep  my  promise. 


64  THE   LIVING   CORPSE. 

That's  the  first  thing,  and  that's  enough.  I  cannot 
lie  and  do  all  those  nasty  things  that  are  necessary 
for  a  divorce. 

Masha:  I'll  admit  they  are  nasty.     I  myself — 

Fedya:  Then  I  need  to  set  them  free,  both  my 
wife  and  him.  Why  not?  They  are  nice  people. 
Why  should  they  suffer  ?    That's  the  next  thing. 

Masha:  Well,  I  cannot  see  much  good  in  her, 
if  she  threw  you  over. 

Fedya:  She  didn't  throw  me  over — I  did  it  all. 

Masha:  Very  well,  very  well.  It's  all  your 
fault.    She's  an  angel.    What's  next? 

Fedya:  The  next  thing  is  that  you  are  a  dear, 
good  little  girl, — I  love  you ;  and  if  I  remain  alive  I 
shall  ruin  you. 

Masha  :  You  needn't  trouble  yourself  about  that, 
let  me  tell  you.  Leave  it  to  me  to  decide  what  will 
ruin  me. 

Fedya:  (sighs)     And  the  main  thing,  the  main 

j^S        thing  is:  What  does  my  life  amount  to?     Don't  I 

p'  .   , '     . ;  see  that  I  am  lost,  a  mere  good-for-nothing  ?    I  am 

'-^  a  burden  to  myself  and  to  everybody  else,  as  your 

father  said.     I'm  a  good-for-nothing! 

\J  '>-  '  Masha  :    Just  listen  to  that  nonsense !    You  can't 

shake  me  off!    I  shall  cling  to  you,  that's  all!    As 

for  your  leading  a    bad  life  and    drinking — Well, 

you're  a  man.     Drop  it !   That's  all ! 

Fedya:  That's  easily  said. 

Masha  :    Just  do  it. 

Fedya:  There,  when  I  look  at  you,  it  seems  as 
if  I  could  do  anything. 

Masha  :  And  you  will  do  it.  You  will  do  every- 
thing, (notices  the  letter)  What's  that?  You 
wrote  to  them  ?    What  did  you  write  ? 

Fedya:  What  did  I  write?  (takes  the  letter  and 
wants  to  tear  it  up)  Now  I  don^t  need  it  any  more. 


THE   LIVING   CORPSE.  65 

Masha:  {snatches  the  letter  out  of  his  hand)  Did 
you  write  you  killed  yourself?     Yes?  You  didn't 
mention  the  revolver?    Did  you  mention  the  word 
killed? 
■^  Fedya  :    Yes,  I  said  I  would  no  longer  exist.^* 

Masha:  Let  me  have  it,  let  me,  let  me!  Have 
you  ever  read  "What's  To  Be  Done?" 

Fedya:  I  think  I  have. 

Masha  :  It's  a  tedious  novel,  but  one  thing  about 
it  is  very,  very  good.  He,  what's  his  name? — 
Rachmanov — went  to  work  and  pretended  to  have 
been  drowned.  So  you — you  don't  know  how  to 
swim,  do  you? 

Fedya  :    No. 

Masha  :  That's  just  it.  Let  me  have  your  clothes ; 
everything,  your  wallet,  too. 

Fedya  :    What  do  you  mean  ? 

Masha:  Wait,  wait,  just  wait!  Let  us  go  home. 
You'll  change  your  clothes  there. 

Fedya:   But  that's  deceit !  >^)M.    \A6i~    f^**^^ 

Masha:  Never  mind!  You  see,  you  went  in 
bathing,  your  clothes  were  left  on  the  shore.  In 
the  pocket  will  be  found  your  wallet  and  this  let- 
ter. 

Fedya:  Well,  and  what  then? 

Masha:  Then?  Then  we'll  go  away  from  here 
and  live  happily  forever  after.         o-i^-^-^t-^^^  x^^i-^-^ 


SCENE  VI. 

Fedya,  Masha;  Ivan  Petrovich  enters. 
Ivan  Petrovich  :     What  do  you  think  of  that ! 
Where's  the  revolver?    I'll  take  it. 

Masha  :   Take  it.   Do.    We're  going  away. 


66  THE   LIVING  CORPSE. 

TABLEAU  II 
A  drawing-room  at  Mme.  Protasov's. 


SCENE  I. 

Karenin,  Liza. 

Victor  Karenin  :  He  promised  it  so  definitely 
that  I'm  sure  he'll  keep  his  word. 

Liza:  I'm  ashamed  to  admit  it,  but  I  must  say 
that  after  what  I  have  found  out  about  that  gipsy- 
girl,  I  feel  entirely  free.  Don't  think  it's  jealousy. 
It's  not  that,  it's  rather  a  feeling  of  liberation  that 
I  have.  How  shall  I  make  you  understand  it  ?  What 
was  torturing  me  above  everything  else  was  that  L 
felt  I  was  loving  two  men  at  once.  And  that  means 
that  I  am  an  immoral  woman. 

Victor  Karenin  :  You  an  immoral  woman  ? 

Liza:  But  the  moment  I  found  out  that  he  had 
dealings  with  another  woman,  which  means  that  he 
doesn't  need  me,  I  considered  myself  free,  and  felt 
that  I  could,  without  lying,  tell  you  that  I  loved  you. 
Now  my  soul  is  at  ease,  and  I  am  troubled  only  by 
the  condition  I  am  in,  by  that  divorce.  All  that  is 
so  trying,  especially  the  anticipation  of  it. 

Victor  Karenin  :  It  will  be  over  soon,  very  soon. 
In  addition  to  Fedya's  promise,  I  asked  the  secre- 
tary to  go  to  him  with  the  application  and  not  to 
leave  before  he  will  have  signed  it.  If  I  didn't  know 
him  as  well  as  I  do,  I  would  have  thought  he  was 
delaying  on  purpose. 

Liza:  On  purpose?  No,  it's  always  that  same 
weakness  and  honesty  of  his.  He  will  not  say  what 
isn't  true.    It  was  in  vain  you  sent  him  the  money. 

Victor  Karenin  :  Why  not  ?  It  might  have  been 
a  cause  of  delay. 


THE   LIVING   CORPSE.  67 

Liza:  ISlo,  it  doesn't  seem  quite  right  to  have 
sent  him  money. 

Victor  Karenin  :  Well,  he  can  now  afford  to  be 
a  little  less  punctilious. 

Liza  :  What  egoists  we  have  become ! 

Victor  Karenin  :  Yes,  I  admit  it.  But  you  have 
no  one  to  blame  but  yourself.  I  am  very  happy  now, 
after  all  that  waiting,  that  hopelessness ;  and  hap- 
piness makes  us  selfish.    It's  all  your  fault. 

Liza:  You  think  you  are  the  only  one  who  feels 
that  way.  I  feel  just  the  way  you  do.  I  am  floating 
on  the  wings  of  happiness.  Everything  has  come 
our  way.  Mika  is  getting  better,  your  mother  loves 
me,  and  you  love  me,  and,  what  is  most  important, 
'  I  love  you ! 

Victor  Karenin:  You  do?  Without  regrets? 
With  no  return? 

Liza:  From  that  day  on  everything  within  me 
suddenly  took  a  new  turn. 

Victor  Karenin  :  And  it  can  never  be  different 
again  ? 

Liza:  Never.  I  only  wish  it  should  be  as  final 
with  you  as  it  is  with  me. 


SCENE  II. 

Karenin,  Liza,  the  nurse  with  the  baby.  (The 
nurse  enters  with  the  baby.  The  boy  goes  to  his 
mother,  who  takes  him  on  her  lap.) 

Victor  Karenin  :  \Yhat  unfortunate  people  we 
are! 

Liza:  What  makes  you  say  that?  (kisses  the 
child.) 

Victor  Karenin  :  When  you  were  married  and 
when,  after  your  return  from  abroad,  I  found  it  out 


fA 


68  THE   LIVING   CORPSE. 

and  felt  that  I  had  lost  you,  I  was  unhappy,  and  I 
was  glad  to  learn  that  you  remembered  me.  That 
was  enough  for  me.  Then,  when  we  resumed  our 
friendly  relations  and  I  felt  that  you  cared  for  me, 
that  there  was  in  our  friendship  a  tiny  spark  of 
something  more  than  mere  friendship,  I  began  to 
feel  almost  happy.  I  was  only  tortured  by  the  fear 
f  (  .jT  that  I  was  not  honest  towards  Fedya.  I  was  always 
/  V  so  firmly  convinced,  however,  of  the  impossibility  of 
.  '^  anything  but  the  purest  friendship  in  my  relations 
^  \^  ^  to  my  friend's  wife — and  I  knew  you  too — that  it 
didn't  trouble  me  very  long,  and  I  was  satisfied. 
Then,  when  Fedya  began  to  torment  you  and  I  felt 
that  I  was  a  comfort  to  you,  and  that  you  feared 
my  friendship,  I  was  altogether  happy,  and  a  cer- 
tain indefinite  hope  sprang  up  within  me.  Later  on, 
when  he  became  quite  unbearable,  you  decided  to 
leave  him,  and  when  I  told  you  everything  for  the 
first  time,  and  you  didn't  say  no,  but  turned  away 
from  me  in  tears,  my  happiness  was  complete.  If 
anyone  would  have  asked  me  then  what  else  I  want- 
ed, I  should  have  answered:  "Nothing."  Then  we 
saw  a  chance  of  uniting  our  lives,  mamma  learned 
to  love  you,  realization  became  possible ;  you  told 
me  you  had  always  loved  me  and  loved  me  now ; 
then  you  told  me,  as  you  did  just  now,  that  he  did 
not  exist  for  you,  that  you  loved  only  me — what 
else  could  one  ask,  what  else  could  I  wish  for?  But 
no,  at  present  I  am  tormented  by  the  past.  I  wish 
that  past  had  never  been,  that  there  was  nothing  to 
remind  us  of  it. 

Liza:   (reproachfully)  Victor! 

Victor  Karenin  :  Liza,  forgive  me.  I  say  this 
because  I  don't  want  to  have  any  thoughts  concern- 
ing you  hidden  from  you.  All  this  I  said  on  pur- 
pose to  show  you  how  mean  I  was,  and  since  I  know 


THE   LIVING   CORPSE.  69 

that  I  have  reached  the  limit,  I  have  to  struggle  with 
myself  and  conquer  myself.  ^And  I  have  conquered. 
I  love  him. 

Liza  :  That's  what  you  ought  to  do.  I  did  all  I 
could.  I  didn't  really  do  it,  but  in  my  heart  every- 
thing was  transformed  into  just  what  you  could 
have  wished  for;  everything  has  disappeared  from 
it,  except  you. 

Victor  KIarenin  :    Everything? 

Liza:  Everything,  everything!  I  would  not  say 
so  if  it  were  not  true. 


SCENE  IIL 

Karenin,  Liza,  nurse  with  the  baby,  and  lackey. 

Lackey:    Mr.  Voznesensky. 

Victor  Karenin  :  There  he  is,  with  a  reply  from 
Fedya. 

Liza:  {to  Karenin)  Let  him  come  in  here. 

Victor  Karenin  :  (rises  and  goes  to  the  door) 
There  he  is  with  an  answer. 

Liza:  (gives  the  child  to  the  nurse;  nurse  and 
child  leave)  Is  it  really  all  coming  to  an  end,  Vic- 
tor? 


SCENE  IV. 

Karenin,  Lisa  and  Voznesensky  (enters.) 

Victor  Karenin  :  Well  ? 

Voznesensky:    He  was  not  in. 

Victor  Karenin  :  What  do  you  mean  ?  And 
he  has  not  signed  the  application? 

Voznesensky  :  The  application  is  not  signed,  but 
he  left  a  letter  addressed  to  you  and  Elizaveta  An- 


70  THE   LIVING   CORPSE. 

dreevna.  (takes  a  letter  out  of  his  pocket)  I  reach- 
ed the  house;  they  told  me  he  was  at  the  inn.  I 
v/ent  there.  Then  Fedor  Vasilyevich  told  me  to 
come  back  in  an  hour  when  I  would  find  the  answer 
ready.     I  came,  and 

Victor  Karenin  :  Another  delay  ?  New  excuses  ? 
No,  that's  simply  base !    How  low  he  has  fallen ! 

Liza  :    But  read,  see  what  the  letter  says ! 

Victor  Karenin:  (opens  the  letter.) 

Voznesensky:    You  don't  need  me? 

Victor  Karenin:  Yes,- — no,  good-bye.  Thank 
you.  (stops  reading  with  a  look  of  astonishment  on 
his  face.    Voznesensky  goes  out.) 


SCENE  V. 

Karenin  and  Lisa. 

Liza  :    What  is  it,  what  ? 

Victor  Karenin  :    It's  terrible ! 

Liza:  (seises  the  letter)  Read! 

Victor  Karenin:  (reads)  "Liza  and  Victor,  I 
am  addressing  this  to  you  both.  ^.I  will  not  He  by 
calling  you  dear  or  beloved.  I  cannot  overcome  a 
certain  feeling  of  bitterness  and  reproach — reproach 
towards  myself,  which  is  none  the  less  tormenting— 
when  I  think  of  you,  your  love,  your  happiness.  I 
know  everything.  I  know  that  although  I  am  the 
husband,  circumstances  have  brought  it  about  that 
I  was  really  in  your  way.  C'est  moi,  qui  suis 
I'intrus.  Just  the  same,  I  cannot  refrain  from  a 
feeling  of  resentment  and  coolness  towards  you. 
Theoretically  I  love  you  both,  especially  Liza,  my 
dear  Liza,  but  in  reality  my  feelings  are  more  than 
cool.  I  know  I'm  in  the  wrong,  but  I  cannot  change 
myself. 


THE   LIVING   CORPSE.  71 


Liza  :  How  could  he 

Victor  Karenin  :  {continues  to  read)  "But  to 
the  point !  This  very  feehng  that  is  dividing  me 
against  myself  forces  me  to  carry  out  your  wish  in 
a  manner  different  from  the  one  you  wished  for. 
To  He,  to  play  base  comedy  by  bribing  the  officials, 
to  face  all  that  meanness  is  disgusting  to  me.  As 
mean  as  I  may  be,  my  meanness  is  of  a  different 
kind,  and  I  can  take  no  part  in  this  baseness,  I 
simply  cannot  do  it.  Another  solution  which  pre- 
sents itself  to  me  is  much  simpler.  You  have  to 
get  married  to  be  happy.  I  am  in  the  way,  there- 
fore I  have  to  destroy  myself. 

Liza:  (grasps  Karenin  by  the  hand)  Victor! 

Victor  Karenin  :  (reads  on) — have  to  destroy 
myself.  And  so  I  am  destrq>'ing  myself.  When 
you  receive  this  letter  I  shall  be  no  more. 

P.  S.  I  am  very  sorry  you  sent  me  that  money 
for  the  trial.  It  was  indelicate  and  not  at  all  like 
you.  But  what's  to  be  done?  I  was  mistaken  so 
many  times,  so  you,  too,  may  be  mistaken  once. 
The  money  will  be  returned  to  you.  My  solution 
is  more  brief,  cheaper  and  surer.  I  beg  one  thing 
of  you,  don't  be  angry  with  me,  and  hold  me  in 
kind  memory.  One  thing  more.  There's  a  watch- 
maker, Evgenyev;  can't  you  do  something  for  him 
to  put  him  on  his  feet?  He  is  a  weak  but  kind- 
hearted  man.    Good-bye.     Fedya." 

Liza  :  He  has  killed  himself  !     But 

Victor  Karenin  :  (rings,  runs  into  the  hall)  Call 
back  Voznesensky! 

Liza  :    I  knew  it,  I  knew  it !   Fedya,  dear  Fedya ! 

Victor  Karenin  :  Liza ! 

Liza:  It's  not  true,  no,  it  isn't  true  that  I  didn't 
love  him ;  that  I  don't  love  him  now !     I  love  no 


■A 


72  THE   LIVING   CORPSE. 

one  but  him !     I  do !     And  I  ruined  him !     Leave 
me!     {Vosnesensky  enters.) 


SCENE  VI. 

Karenin,  Lisa  and  Vosnesensky. 

Victor  Karenin:  Where  is  Feodor  Vasilyevich? 
What  did  they  tell  you  ? 

VozNESENSKY:  They  said  he  went  out  in  the 
morning,  left  his  letter  and  didn't  return. 

Victor  Karenin  :  That  must  be  investigated. 
Liza,  I  leave  you. 

Liza:  Forgive  me,  but  I  too  cannot  lie.  Leave 
me  now.    Go,  find  out — — 


ACT  V 


TABLEAU  I 

A  dirty  room  in  an  inn.  Around  the  tables  sit 
several  people  zvho  are  drinking  tea  and  tvhisky.  In 
the  foreground  is  a  small  table  at  which  Fedya  is 
seated,  wasted  and  tattered;  with  him  is  Petiishkov, 
a  gentle,  attentive  person,  zvith  long  hair,  of  a  cleri- 
cal aspect.    Both  are  a  little  tipsy. 


SCENE  I. 

Fedya  arid  Petushkov. 

Petushkov:   I  understand,  I  understand.  There's 
real  love  for  you !    ¥/eIl,  and  what  happened  ? 
^^       Fedya:   You  see,  if  these  feelings  had  manifested 
^^  themselves  in  a  girl  of  our  circle,'- if  one  of  them 
y)'  had  sacrificed  everything  for  the  _man  she  loved — 

but  shj"  was  a  gipsy,-  b^aught  up  on  greed,  and  yet 
_capable  of  such  pure,  self-sacrificing  love.  She 
gave  up  everything  and  asked  nothing  in  return.  An 
exceptional  contrast  that  is  especially  remarkable. 
""  Petushkov:  Yes,  that  is  what  we  call  tone- 
value  in  painting.  One  may  use  a  bright  red  only 
when  there  is  green  all  around.  But  that's  not  it. 
I  understand,  I  do. 


74  THE   LIVING   CORPSE. 

Fedya  :  Yes,  and  I  believe  the  one  good  act  I 
have  to  my  credit  is  not  to  have  taken  advantage  of 
her  love.     And  do  you  know  why? 

Petushkov:    Out  of  pity? 

Fedya  :  Oh,  no.  I  did  not  have  any  pity  for  her. 
I  always  felt  enraptured  in  her  presence,  and  when 
she  sang,  oh,  how  she  sang!  She  is  probably  sing- 
ing now,  too.  I  always  used  to  look  up  to  her.  _I 
did  not  ruin  her  simply  because  I  loved  her,  loved 
her  truly.  And  now  all  that  remains  a  wonderfully 
glorious  memory  with  me.     (drinks.) 

Petushkov:  That's  it.  I  understand,  I  do.  It 
was  ideal. 

Fedya:     Let  me  tell  you:     I  have  had  infatua- 
tions, and  once  I  fell  in  love  with  a  great  lady,  a 
beauty ;  I  was  in  love  with  her  in  a  mean,  dog-like 
way ;  she  made  an  appointment  with  me  and  I  didn't 
appear,  because  I  thought  it  mean  towards  her  hus- 
band ;  and  to  this  very  day,  strange  as  it  may  seem, 
whenever  I  think  of  it,  I  try  to  feel  pleased  and  to 
.praise  myself  for  having  acted  honorably;  but  in- 
nstead  of  that,  I  simply  regret  it,  as  one  regrets  his 
1,'sins.     But  when  it  comes  to  Masha,  I  feel  just  the 
opposite  way.     I'm  always  glad,  very  glad,  that  I 
didn't  in  any  way  pollute  that  feeling  of  mine  for 
her.    I  may  fall  still  lower,  I  may  perish  altogether, 
'^^       I  may  sell  all  I  have,  become  filthy  and  diseased, 
but  this  jewel,  no,  not  jewel,  but  ray  of  sunshine, 
.yes — will  always  be  within  me,  always  with  me. 

Petushkov:  I  understand.  I  understand.  But 
where  is  she  now? 

Fedya  :    I  don't  know,  and  I  don't  care.    That  all 

belongs  to  another  life,  and  I  don't  want  to  mingle 

it  with  this  one. 

,.^  {From  the  table  in  the  rear  a  woman's  screams 

are  heard.    The  innkeeper  and  a  policeman  go  over; 


r 
I 


THE   LIVING   CORPSE.  75 

several  people  are  led  aivay.    Fedya  and  Petushkov 
look  on,  listening  silently.) 

Petushkov:  {after  quiet  has  been  restored)  Yes, 
-\  you  have  led  a  remarkable  life. 
_j/^         Fedya:  No,  it's  a  very  simple  one.    In  our  cir- 
rlb^  cle,  the  one  in  which  I  was  bom,  we  have  but  three 

courses  to  choose  from — and  no  more  than  three. 
)y  / /One  is  to  enter  the  service,  to  make  money,  to  in- 
•^  '   crease  the  nastiness  in  the  midst  of  which  we  live. 
,     That  disgusted  me;  perhaps  I  didn't  know  how  to 
f    do  it,  but  the  main  thing  was,— that  it  was  disgust- 
ing to  me.     The  second  choice  Is  to  destroy  that       -Ir^lA^ 
nastiness ;  but  for  tliat  one  has  to  be  a  hero,  and  I'm 
not  a  hero.    There  remains  the  third  choice ;  to  for- 
get oneself, — to  drink,  frolic,  sing;  which  is  what 
I  did,  and  this  is  the  state  I  have  sung  myself  into. 
{drinks.) 
Petushkov:    Well,  what  about  your  home  life? 
^  I  could  be  happy  if  I  had  a  wife.     My  wife  is  the 
y    one  who  ruined  me. 

tr  Fedya:   Home  life?    Yes.    My  wife  was  an  ideal 

j^\,       woman.     She  is  still  alive.     But  what  shall  I  say? 
'  ^^       There  was  no  spice  to  her.    You  know  how  neces- 
sary spice  is  to  give  taste  to  the  pudding.    You  see, 
there  was  no  sparkle  to  our  life.     I  had  to  forget 
myself,  but  without  sparkle  you  cannot  do  it.    Then 
I  began  to  be  mean;  and  you  know,  to  be  sure,  that\,. 
we  love  people  for  the  good  we  do  them,  and  we    \\ 
dislike   them    for   the   evil   we   do  them.      And   I 
caused  her  evil.    Yet  she  seemed  to  love  me. 
Petushkov:  Why  do  you  say  "seemed?" 
Fedya:   I  say  that,  because  she  never  had  the  >.  j 

faculty  of'getting  right  into  the  depth  of  my  soul,  '^^^ 

as  Masha  did.  But  that  is  what  I  wanted  to  tell 
you.  She  was  with  child,  nursing,  and  I  would 
disappear  and  come  home  drunk.     Naturally,  for 


76  THE   LIVING   CORPSE. 

that  reason  I  loved  her  still  less.  Yes,  yes  (becomes 
'enraptured),  it  just  occurred  to  me;  the  reason  I 
love  Masha  is  because  I  treated  her  wTth  kindness 
"and  not  with  harshness.  That's  why  I  love  her.  But 
the  other  one  I  tormented,  and  for  that  reason — it  /i 

isn't  exactly  that  I  didn't  love  her — well,  I  simply  ^^'^,  '^ 
didn't  love  her.     I  was  jealous,  it's  true,  but  that    'y 
too  has  passed  away. 


SCENE  II. 

Fedya,  Petushkov,  and  Artemyev. 

Arteniyev  approaches;  zvears  a  uniform  cap,  his 
moivstache  is  dyed,  his  ancient  clothes  are  fixed  up. 

Artemyev:  Good  appetite  to  you!  (bozvs  to  Fed- 
ya) 1  see  you  have  become  acquainted  with  the 
artist. 

Fedya:  (cooly)  Yes,  we're  acquainted. 

Artemyev:  (to  Petushkov)  Well,  have  you  finish- 
ed the  portrait? 

Petushkov:   No,  it  didn't  come  out  well. 

Artemyev:  (sits  down)  I  hope  I'm  not  intrud- 
ing.    (Fedya  and  Petushkov  keep  silent.) 

Petushkov:  Feodor  Vasilyevich  was  telling  me 
about  his  life. 

Artemyev  :  Secrets  ?  Don't  let  me  interrupt  you ; 
go  right  on — I  certainly  don't  need  you.    Pigs ! 

(Goes  to  the  next  table  and  orders  beer.  Through 
all  that  follows  he  listens  to  the  conversation  be- 
tween Fedya  and  Petushkov,  leaning  over  tozvards 
{  thetn.) 

Fedya  :   I  don't  like  that  fellow. 

Petushkov:    He  took  offense  at  us. 

Fedya:  Well,  that  can't  be  helped.  I  can't  en- 
dure him.     He's  the  sort  of  man  in  whose  presence 


THE   LIVING   CORPSE.  77 

^I  am  without  words.  With  you,  you  see,  I  feel  at 
ease,  at  home.    What  was  it  I  was  talking  about? 

Petushkov  :  You  were  saying  you  had  been  jeal- 
ous. Well,  and  how  did  you  happen  to  part  with 
your  wife? 

Fedya:  Ah!  {becomes  thoughtful)  That  is  a  re- 
markable story.     My  wife  is  married 

Petushkov  :    How's  that  ?    Did  you  divorce  her  ? 

Fedya:   No!  (smiling)  She  was  widowed. 

Petushkov:   What  do  you  mean? 

Fedya:  I  mean  what  I  say;  she  was  widowed. 
You  see,  I  don't  exist. 

Petushkov:    How  can  that  be ? 

Fedya:  I  don't  exist.  '  I'm  a  corpse.  Yes. 
{Artemyev  leans  over,  listening  intently)  W^ell,  to 
you  I  suppose  I  may  tell  it.  It  is  a  matter  of  the 
f;,^ ,  remote  past,  and  you  don't  even  know  my  real  name. 
u  A  It  was  like  this :  When  I  had  finished  tormenting 
'X  v^  ^my  wife,  had  squandered  everything  I  could  lay  my 
hands  on,  and  became  unendurable,  a  protector  of 
hers  appeared  on  the  scene.  Don't  think  there  was 
anything  nasty  or  bad  about  it — no,  he  was  a  friend 
of  mine,  a  good,  a  very  good  man,  only  the  very  op- 
posite of  me  in  every  respect,  and  since  there's  much 
more  of  the  bad  than  of  the  good  in  me,  he  always 
;  was  and  is  now  a  very  good  man ;  honest,  firm,  tem- 
perate, in  a  word,  thoroughly  virtuous.  He  knew 
my  wife  from  her  very  childhood,  he  had  loved  her, 
and  when  she  married  me,  he  resigned  himself  to 
his  fate.  But  later,  when  I  grew  abusive,  when  I 
began  to  torment  her,  he  began  to  call  on  us  more 
often.  I  myself  wished  him  to  do  it,  and  they  fell 
in  love  with  each  other;  I  had,  however,  by  that 
time  lost  all  self-respect,  and,  of  my  own  accord, 
deserted  my  wife.     Besides,  there  was  Masha.     I 


78  THE   LIVING   CORPSE. 

myself  suggested  to  them  that  they  should  get  mar- 
ried. They  didn't  want  to,  but  I  became  more  and 
more  unbearable,  and  the  end  of  it  all  was 

Petushkov:   The  usual  one. 

Fedya:  No,  I  am  sure  that  their  relations  have 
always  been  pure.  He  is  a  religious  person,  he 
would  consider  marriage  without  the  sanction  of 
the  church  a  sin.  Well,  they  began  to  demand  a 
divorce  and  to  urge  me  to  consent  to  it.  It  meant 
that  I  should  take  the  guilt  upon  myself,  that  I 
should  do  all  the  lying — and  that  I  couldn't  do.  Will 
you  believe  me,  I  would  have  found  it  easier  to 
commit  suicide  than  to  lie.  And  I  was  all  ready  to 
put  an  end  to  everything,  but  at  the  last  moment  a 
kind  friend  said  to  me,  "Why  should  you  do  it?" 
And  we  arranged  it  all.  I  sent  a  farewell  letter, 
and  on  the  following  day  they  found  on  the  shore 
my  clothes,  pocketbook  and  letters.  I  can't  swim, 
you  see. 

Petushkov:  But  how  about  the  body?  Didn't 
they  ever  find  it? 

Fedya:  They  did;  just  imagine — a  week  later 
some  sort  of  a  body  was  found.  My  wife  was  call- 
ed to  identify  it.  The  body  was  in  a  state  of  decay ; 
she  looked  at  it.  "Is  that  he?"  "Yes,  it's  he." 
And  that  ended  it.  I  was  buried,  they  were  mar- 
ried, and  are  living  here  in  prosperity.  And  I — 
well,  here  you  see  me!  I  live  and  drink.  I  passed 
by  their  house  yesterday.  The  windows^  were 
lighted  up,  someone's  shadow  was  thrown  on  one 
of  the  window  shades.  Sometimes  I  feel  rather 
sad,  but  at  other  times  it  doesn't  trouble  me.  I  feel 
sad  when  I  haven't  any  money— (drinks.) 

Artemyev:  (goes  over)  You  must  excuse  me, 
but  I  heard  your  story.  It's  a  very  good  story,  and 
especially  a  useful  one.     You  say  you  feel  badly 


THE   LIVING  CORPSE.  79 

when  you  have  no  money.  Nothing  can  be  worse 
than  that.  But  you,  in  your  position,  should  always 
have  money.  You're  a  corpse;  you  say.  Very 
well 

Fedya  :  Excuse  me,  but  I  didn't  tell  my  story  to 
you,  and  I  don't  want  your  advice. 

Artemyev:   But  I  want  to  give  it  to  you.  You'r'e  , 
a  corpse;  but  suppose  you  should  be  resurrected,  ^"   ' 
then  what  will  they  turn  out  to  be,  your  wife  and    Vi'' 
that  gentleman,  those  two    who  are    prospering? 
They  will  be  bigamists,  and  in  the  best  case  will  be 
asked  to  proceed  to  the  less  remote  parts  of   Si- 
beria.   Then,  why  should  you  be  short  of  money? 

Fedya  :  I  ask  you  to  leave  me  alone. 

Artemyev  :  AH  you  have  to  do  is  to  write  a  let- 
ter. If  you  want  me  to,  I  will  write  it  for  you;  only 
give  me  their  address,  and  you  will  thank  me  for 
it. 

Fedya:  Go  away!  Was  I  talking  to  you?  I 
didn't  say  anything  to  you. 

Artemyev:  You  certainly  did.  This  man  is  a 
witness.  The  waiter  also  heard  you  say  you  were 
a  corpse. 

Waiter:  I  don't  know  anything  about  it,  if  you 
please. 

Fedya:  (to  Artemyev)  Scoundrel! 

Artemyev:  You  call  me  a  scoundrel?  Police! 
Police !  We'll  have  this  recorded.  (Fedya  rises  to 
go  out.  Artemyev  holds  him  back.  A  policeman 
appears.) 


TABLEAU  II 


The  action  takes  place  in  the  country,  on  a  piazza 
overgrown  zvith  ivy. 


80  THE   LIVING   CORPSE. 

SCENE  I. 

Anna  Dmitrievna  Karenina,  Liza  (pregnant),  the 
nurse  with  the  boy. 

Liza  :  By  this  time  he  is  already  leaving  the  sta- 
tion. 

Boy:    Who's  coming? 

Liza  :    Papa. 

Boy  :    Papa  is  leaving  the  station ! 

Liza:  C'est  etonnant  comme  il  I'aime,  tout-a- 
fait  comme  son  pere. 

Anna  Dmitrievna:  Tant  mieux.  Se  souvient- 
il  de  son  pere  veritable? 

Liza:  (sighing)  I  don't  ever  speak  of  him  to  the 
child.  I  always  think,  why  should  I  confuse  him? 
Then  again  I  think  that  I  ought  to  tell  him.  What 
do  you  think,  mamma  ? 

Anna  Dmitrievna:  I  think,  Liza,  that  it  de- 
pends just  on  how  one  feels  about  it,  and  if  you 
will  leave~iF  to  your  feelings,  your  heart  will  tell 
"V  you  what  you  should  say  and  when  to  say  it.  What 
f  ^  a  wonderful  conciliator  death  is  !  I  admit  that  there 
I  ,  was  once  a  time  when  Fedya — I  knew  him  when  he 
was  a  child,  you  know — was  unwelcome  to  me,  but 
now  I  only  remember  him  as  a  lovely  youth,  a  friend 
of  Victor's,  as  that  passionate  person  who,  even 
though  it  was  unlawful  and  irreligious,  sacrificed 
himself  for  those  he  loved.  On  aura  beau  dire. 
Taction  est  belle — I  hope  Victor  will  not  forget  to 
bring  home  some  yarn,  I'm  almost  all  out  of  it. 
(continues  knitting.) 

Liza:  I  hear  him  coming. 

(The  sound  of  wheels  and  bells  is  heard.  Lisa 
rises  and  goes  to  the  end  of  the  piazza.) 


THE   LIVING   CORPSE.  81 

Liza:  There's  some  one  with  him;  a  lady  with 
a  hat  on.  It's  mam.ma!  I  haven't  seen  her  for  an 
age!    (goes  to  the  door.) 


SCENE  II. 

Lisa,  Anna  Dmitrievna,  the  nurse  with  the  child. 
Karenin  and  Anna  Pavlovna. 

Anna  Pavlovna:  {embraces  Liza  and  Anna 
Dmitrievna)  Victor  met  me  and  carried  me  off 
with  him. 

Anna  Dmitrievna:  He  certainly  did  well. 

Anna  Pavlovna:  Yes,  of  course.  I  thought 
to  myself :  when  will  I  get  a  chance  to  see  them  ? 
I  always  keep  postponing  my  visit.  So  here  I  am 
to  stay — if  you  will  not  drive  me  out — till  the  even- 
ing train. 

Victor  Karenin  :  {embraces  his  wife,  his  mother, 
and  the  child)  If  you  only  knew  how  happy  I  am ! 
You  may  congratulate  me.  I  have  two  days'  leave. 
To-morrow  they  will  get  along  without  me. 

Liza  :  Splendid !  Two  whole  days !  You  haven't 
had  that  much  for  a  long  time.  We'll  take  a  ride 
down  to  the  hermitage.    Yes  ? 

Anna  Pavlovna:  What  a  resemblance!  What 
a  fine  youngster !  I  only  hope  he  will  not  inherit 
everything.    His  father's  heart 

Anna  Dmitrievna:  But  not  his  weaknesses. 

Liza:  Everything,  everything!  Victor  agrees 
with  me  that  if  only  he  had  been  properly  guided  in 
his  youth 

Anna  Pavlovna:  Well,  I  don't  understand  any- 
thing of  that.  I  simply  can't  think  of  him  without 
tears. 


^ 


82  THE   LIVING  CORPSE. 

Liza  :  So  it  is  with  us.  How  his  image  has  grown 
in  our  memory ! 

Anna  Pavlovna:    Yes,  I  should  say  so. 

Liza:  How  hopeless  it  all  seemed  at  one  time. 
And  how  everything  was  solved  all  at  once. 

Anna  Dmitrievna:  Well,  Victor,  did  you  bring 
me  some  yarn  ? 

Victor  Karenin  :  I  did,  I  did.  {goes  to  his  bag 
and  takes  out  several  packages)  Here's  your  yam, 
here  is  the  cologne  water,  here  are  some  letters,  and 
here  is  an  official  envelope  addressed  to  you.  {hand- 
ing it  to  his  ivife)  Well,  Anna  Pavlovna,  if  you 
want  to  use  the  wash-room,  I'll  show  you  the  way. 
I  have  to  fix  up  a  bit  too,  for  dinner  will  be  ready 
soon.  Liza,  I'll  show  Anna  Pavlovna  to  the  lower 
side-room,  shall  I  not? 

Liza:  {pale,  holds  the  letter  with  shivering  hands, 
and  reads.) 

Victor  Karenin  :  What  is  the  matter  with  you, 
Liza,  what  is  it? 

Liza:  He's  alive!  My  God!  When  will  he  at 
last  set  me  free  ?  Victor !  What  does  it  all  mean  ? 
{sohhiy\g.) 

Victor  Karenin:  {takes  the  paper  and  reads) 
This  is  terrible ! 

Anna  Dmitrievna:    What  is  it?    Speak! 

Victor  Karenin  :  This  is  terrible.  He  is  alive, 
she  is  a  bigamist,  and  I  am  a  criminal.  This  is  a 
paper  from  the  prosecuting  attorney  who  demands 
Liza's  presence  in  court. 

Anna  Dmitrievna:  What  a  wicked  man!  Why 
did  he  do  it? 

Victor  Karenin  :  It  was  all  a  lie,  a  lie ! 

Liza  :  Oh,  how  I  hate  him !  I  don't  know  what 

I'm    saying {leaves   in    tears.    Karenin   follows 

her.) 


THE   LIVING   CORPSE.  83 

SCENE  III. 

Anna  Dmitrievna  and  Anna  Pavlovna. 

Anna  Pavlovna  :  How  did  he  manage  to  remain 
alive  ? 

Anna  Dmitrievna:  I  only  know  that  the  mo- 
ment Victor  came  in  contact  with  that  world  of 
filth,  I  said  it  would  drag  him  down.  And  now  it  has 
happened.    It's  all  deception,  all  lies! 


ACT  VI. 


TABLEAU  I 


Office  of  the  Prosecuting  Attorney,  who  is  sitting 
behind  the  table,  conversing  with  Meljnikov.  Near 
them  the  clerk  is  sorting  papers. 


SCENE  I. 

Prosecuting  Attorney,  Meljnikov,  and  the  clerk. 

Prosecuting  Attorney:  I  never  told  her  that. 
She  made  it  all  up,  and  now  she  blames  me  for  it. 

Meljnikov:  She  doesn't  blame  anyone,  but  she 
is  grieving  over  it. 

Prosecuting  Attorney:  Very  well,  then,  I'll 
come  for  dinner.  And  now  we  come  to  a  very  in- 
teresting case.    Show  them  in. 

Clerk  :    Both  of  them  ? 

Prosecuting  Attorney:  (stops  smoking  and 
hides  his  cigarette)  No,  only  Madame  Karenin  or, 
to  be  more  accurate,  Madame  Protasov,  by  her 
first  husband's  name. 

Meljnikov:  (leaving)  Oh,  it's  that  Madame 
Karenin. 

Prosecuting  Attorney:  Yes.  A  nasty  case. 
To  be  sure,  I'm  only  beginning  the  investigation, 
but  it  looks  bad.  Well,  good-bye.  (Meljnikov  goes 
out.) 


THE   LIVING   CORPSE.  85 

SCENE  II. 

Prosecuting  Attorney,  clerk,  and  Lisa.  (Enters 
heavily  veiled,  all  in  black.) 

Prosecuting  Attorney:  Be  seated,  please. 
(showing  her  to  a  chair)  Believe  me,  I  very  much 
regret  the  necessity  of  questioning  you,  but  the 
conditions  necessitate  it —  Please  compose  yourself, 
and  know  that  you  may  refuse  to  answer  certain  of 
the  questions,  if  you  so  desire.  Only  my  opinion 
is  that  it's  best  for  you,  and  for  ail  concerned,  to 
tell  the  truth.  That's  always  better  and  more  prac- 
tical. 

Liza  :    I  have  nothing  to  conceal. 

Prosecuting  Attorney:  (looking  at  the  paper) 
Your  name,  station,  and  religion — that's  all  down 
here,  isn't  it? 

Liza:  Yes. 

Prosecuting  Attorney:  You  are  accused  of 
having  married  another  man,  knowing  that  your 
husband  was  alive. 

Liza  :  I  didn't  know  it. 

Prosecuting  Attorney:     Also,  of  having  per- 
suaded your  husband,  by  bribing  him,  to  practice 
deception,  to  pretend  to  have    committed  suicide, 
with  a  view  towards  getting  rid  of  him. 
'  Liza  :    All  that  is  not  true. 

Prosecuting  Attorney  :  Then  permit  me  to  ask 
you  a  few  questions.  Did  you  send  him  money, 
twelve  hundred  roubles,  in  July  of  last  year  ? 

Liza  :  That  money  belonged  to  him.  I  procured 
it  by  selling  his  belongings.  And  during  the  period 
following  our  separation,  when  I  was  waiting  for  a 
divorce,  I  sent  it  to  him. 


86  THE   LIVING   CORPSE. 

Prosecuting  Attorney  :  Very  well.  That  money 
was  sent  on  the  17th  of  July,  two  days  before  his 
disappearance  ? 

Liza:  I  think  it  was  on  the  17th  of  July;  I  don't 
remember. 

Prosecuting  Attorney:  And  when  the  police 
asked  you  to  inspect  the  dead  body,  how  was  it  that 
you  identified  it  as  your  husband's? 

Liza  :  I  was  so  excited  at  the  time  being  that  I 
didn't  look  at  the  body,  and  I  was  so  sure  that  it 
was  his,  that  when  they  asked  me  I  answered:  I 
think  it's  his. 

Prosecuting  Attorney:  I  see,  you  didn't  ex- 
amine it  closely  on  account  of  your  excitement, 
which  we  can  well  imagine.  Very  well.  And  now, 
permit  me  to  ask  you,  why  was  money  sent  every 
month  to  Saratov,  to  the  very  city  where  your  first 
husband  was  living? 

Liza  :   That  money  was  sent  by  my  husband,  and 
I  cannot  tell  you    anything   about  its    destination, 
since  I  knew  nothing  about  it.    Only  it  was  not  sent 
to  Feodor  Vasilyevich.     We  were  perfectly  sure 
that  he  no  longer  existed.    That  I  can  tell  you  defi- 
nitely. 
^'^                 Prosecuting  Attorney:     Very  well.     Let  me 
"^    ^         '  point  out  one  thing  to  you :    Madame — we  are  the 
servants  of  the  Law,  but  that  doesn't  prevent  us 
-J              from  being  human.     Believe  me,  therefore,  that  I 
^              fully  understand  your  position  and  sympathize  with 
you.    You  were  tied  down  to  a  man  who  spent  your 
fortune,  betrayed  you,  in  a  word,  caused  unhap- 
j'    V  piness  to 

Liza  :  I  loved  him. 

Prosecuting  Attorney:  Yes,  but  nevertheless, 
you  had  the  natural  desire  to  be  free  from  him,  and 
you  chose  this  simple  means,  not  realizing  that  it 


THE   LIVING   CORPSE.  87 

would  lead  to  what  is  considered  a  crime — bigamy — 
I  can  understand  that.  And  the  judges  too  will  un- 
derstand it.  Therefore,  I  should  advise  you  to  make 
a  clean  breast  of  it. 

Liza:  But  I  have  nothing  to  confess.  I  never 
lied,     (weeps)     Do  you  need  me  any  longer? 

Prosecuting  Attorney  :  I  should  like  to  have 
you  stay  another  while.  I  shall  not  trouble  you 
any  more  with  questions.  Only  read  this,  please, 
and  sign  it.  Here's  the  cross-examination.  Are 
your  answers  put  down  correctly?  Right  here, 
please,  (points  to  a  chair  at  the  window)  (to  the 
clerk)  Call  Mr.  Karenin. 


SCENE  III. 

The  prosecuting  attorney,  the  clerk,  Liza.  Kare- 
nin enters,  (seriously,  solemnly.) 

Prosecuting  Attorney:    Be  seated,  please. 

Victor  Karenin  :  Thank  you.  (remains  stand- 
ing) What  do  you  want? 

Prosecuting  Attorney:  I  am  obliged  to  cross- 
examine  you. 

Victor  Karenin:    In  what  capacity? 

Prosecuting  Attorney  :  (smiling)  In  my  capa- 
city of  prosecuting  attorney ;  and  you  are  to  be 
cross-examined  in  the  capacity  of  defendant. 

Victor  Karenin :  How  is  that?  With  regard  to 
what  ? 

Prosecuting  Attorney  :  With  regard  to  having 
married  a  married  woman.  Permit  me,  however, 
to  put  the  questions  in  the  usual  order.    Be  seated. 

Victor  Karenin  :    Thank  you. 

Prosecuting  Attorney  :    Your  name  ? 

Victor  Karenin:    Victor  Karenin. 


88  THE   LIVING   CORPSE. 

Prosecuting  Attorney:    Station? 

Victor  Karenin  :  Cavalier,  councillor  of  state. 

Prosecuting  Attorney :    Age? 

Victor  Karenin  :    Thirty-eight  years  old. 

Prosecuting  Attorney:    Faith? 

Victor  Karenin  :  Greek-Orthodox.  Never  was 
tried  or  convicted  before.     Well? 

Prosecuting  Attorney:  Did  you  know  that 
Feodor  Vasilyevich  Protasov  was  alive  when  you 
married  his  wife? 

Victor  Karenin  :  I  did  not  know  it.  We  were 
both  convinced  that  he  was  drowned. 

Prosecuting  Attorney:  To  whom,  then,  were 
you  sending  money  each  month  to  Saratov,  after 
the  false  reports  of  Protasov's  death? 

Victor  Karenin:  I  refuse  to  answer  this  ques- 
tion. 

Prosecuting  Attorney  :  Very  well.  What  was 
your  purpose  in  sending  money,  twelve  hundred 
roubles,  to  Mr.  Protasov,  just  before  his  alleged 
death,  July  17? 

Victor  Karenin  :  That  money  was  given  to  m.e 
by  my  wife. 

Prosecuting  Attorney  :  By  Mme.  Protasov  ? 

Victor  Karenin  :  — by  my  v/ife,  to  be  sent  to 
her  husband.  That  money  she  considered  his  prop- 
erty and  having  broken  off  her  connections  with 
him,  she  considered  it  unfair  to  keep  it. 

Prosecuting  Attorney:  One  more  question, 
please.  Why  did  you  abandon  your  action  for  di- 
vorce ? 

Victor  Karenin  :  Because  Feodor  Vasilyevich 
took  the  matter  upon  himself  and  informed  me  of 
it  in  a  letter.  ^ 

Prosecuting  Attorney:  Have  you  that  letter? 
Victor  Karenin  :  The  letter  is  lost. 


THE   LIVING    CORPSE.  89 

Prosecuting  Attorney:  How  strange  that 
everything  that  might  tend  to  convince  the  court  of 
the  vaHdity  of  your  testimony  is  either  lost  or  ab- 
sent. 

Victor  Karenin :    Anything  else  you  need? 

Prosecuting  Attorney:  I  don't  need  anything 
except  to  fulfil  my  duty,  but  you  need  to  clear  your- 
self, and  I  just  advised  Mme.  Protasov  and  should 
advise  you  to  do  the  same :  not  to  hide  what  is  self- 
evident  and  to  tell  everything,  just  as  it  happened, 
all  the  more  so  since  Mr.  Protasov  is  in  such  a 
state  that  he  has  already  disclosed  everything,  and 
will,  probably,  testify  to  the  same  things  before  the 
court.     I  should  advise 

Victor  Karenin  :  I  should  like  to  ask  you  to 
confine  yourself  to  the  limits  of  your  duties  and  re- 
frain from  giving  us  advice.  May  we  go?  (ap- 
proaches Liza.  She  rises  and  takes  him  by  the 
hand.) 

Prosecuting  Attorney:  I  am  very  sorry  to 
have  to  detain  you.  (Karenin  turns  around  in  sur- 
prise) Oh,  no,  I  don't  mean  that  you  are  under  ar- 
rest. Although  it  would  have  been  better  for  the 
establishment  of  the  truth,  I  shall  not  take  recourse 
to  that  measure.  I  should  only  like  to  cross-examine 
Protasov  in  your  presence  and  bring  you  face  to 
face  with  him  when  you  will  have  a  better  chance 
to  contradict  him.  Please  be  seated,  (to  the  clerk) 
Call  Mr.  Protasov. 


SCENE  IV. 

The  prosecuting  attorney,  the  clerk,  Lisa,  Kare- 
nin.   Fedya  enters,  dirty  and  ragged. 

Fedya:  (turning  to  Liza  and  Karenin)  Liza, 
Elizaveta  Andreevna,  Victor — It's  not  my  fault.    I 


90  THE    LIVING   CORPSE. 

meant  to  do  better.  And  if  it  is  my  fault — forgive 
me,  forgive  me.  (bows  very  low  before  them.) 

Prosecuting  Attorney:  Please  answer  my 
questions. 

Fedya:    Go  ahead. 

Prosecuting  Attorney:     Your  name? 

Fedya:     You  know  it. 

Prosecuting  Attorney:    You'll  please  answer. 

Fedya:  Well,  Feodor  Protasov. 

Prosecuting  Attornfy:  Your  vocation,  age, 
faith? 

Fedya  :  (silent  for  a  while)  Aren't  you  ashamed 
to  ask  these  foolish  questions?  Ask  what  needs  to 
be  asked,  and  not  such  silly  questions. 

Prosecuting  Attorney:  I'll  have  to  ask  you 
to  be  more  careful  of  what  you  say  and  to  answer 
my  questions. 

Fedya:  Well,  if  you're  not  ashamed  of  it,  then 
here  you  are :  I  am  a  bachelor  of  laws,  forty  years 
old,  of  the  Greek-Orthodox  faith;  well,  what  else? 

Prosecuting  Attorney:  Was  it  known  to  Mr. 
Karenin  and  your  wife  that  you  were  alive  when 
you  left  your  clothes  on  the  bank  of  the  river  and 
disappeared  ? 

Fedya:  Certainly  not.  I  really  did  want  to  kill 
myself,  but  then — well,  never  mind,  that  doesn't  be- 
long here.  The  point  is  that  they  knew  nothing 
whatsoever  about  it. 

Prosecuing  Attorney  :  How  is  it  that  you  testi- 
fied differently  before  the  police-officer? 

Fedya:  What  police-officer?  Ah,  you  mean 
when  he  came  to  me  at  the  Rjanov  House?  I  was 
drunk  then  and  lied  to  him — I  don't  even  remember 
what  I  said.  But  all  that  is  nonsense.  Now  I'm 
not  drunk  and  will  tell  the  whole  truth.  They  knew 
nothing.     They  believed  I  did  not  exist.     And  I 


THE  LIVING   CORPSE.  91 

was  glad  of  it.  And  it  would  have  remained  that 
way,  itrnot  for  that  rascal  Artemyev.  If  anyone  is 
guilty  it's  no  one  but  /. 

Prosecuting  Attorney  :  I  understand  your  de- 
sire to  be  magnanimous,  but  the  law  demands  the 
truth.    Why  was  the  money  sent  to  you  ? 

Fedya:  (silent.) 

Prosecuting  Attorney  :  Did  you  receive  through 
Simonev  the  money  that  used  to  be  sent  to  you  to 
Saratov  ? 

Fedya:  (silent.) 

Prosecuting  Attorney:  Why  don't  you  ans- 
wer? It  will  go  down  on  record  that  the  defendant 
refused  to  answer  these  questions,  which  may  do 
very  much  harm  to  you  as  well  as  to  them.  Well 
then? 

Fedya:  (silent;  after  a  zvhile)  Ah,  sir,  aren't 
you  ashamed  of  yourself?  Why  are  you  intruding 
into  other  people's  lives  ?  You  are  glad  you  are  in 
power,  and  in  order  to  shovv^  it,  you  torture,  men- 
tally, if  not  physically,  people  who  are  a  thousand 
times  better  than  you  are. 

Prosecuting  Attorney:  I  ask  you 

Fedya:  You  needn't  take  the  trouble.  I  shall 
say  all  I  have  on  my  mind,  (to  the  clerk)  And  you 
may  take  it  down.  At  least  there  will  for  once  be  sen- 
sible human  statements  in  your  records,  (raising  his 
voice)  Three  people  are  living:  I,  he,  and  she.  The 
relations  between  us  are  complicated — it's  a  strug- 
*gle  between  good  and  evil,  a  spiritual  struggle  of 
which  you  have  no  conception.  That  struggle  ends 
in  a  certain  situation  that  solves  everything.  All 
are  content.  They  are  happy.  They  cherish  my 
memory.  I  am  happy  in  my  downfall,  at  the 
thought  of  having  done  what  was  my  duty — that  I, 
a  good-for-nothing,  passed  out  of  this  life  so  as  not 


92  THE    LIVING   CORPSE. 

.  to  be  in  the  way  of  those  who  are  full  of  life  and 
of  goodness.  And  we  are  all  living.  Suddenly  a 
scoundrel  appears,  a  blackmailer,  who  demands  that 
I  should  take  a  hand  in  a  blackmailing  scheme.  I 
drive  him  away.  He  goes  to  you,  the  champions  of 
justice,  the  guardians  of  morality.  And  you,  re- 
ceiving a  few  kopecks  on  the  twentieth  of  each 
month  for  your  nasty  job,  don  your  uniform,  and 
with  an  easy  conscience  abuse  these  people,  whose 
little  finger  is  worth  more  than  you  are,  who  would 
not  even  let  you  step  into  their  hall-way.  But  you 
have  reached  your  aim  and  are  glad 

Prosecuting  Attorney  :  I  shall  have  you  led  out 
of  the  room. 

Fedya:     I  am  not  afraid  of  anyone,  for  I'm  a 
2\      corpse,  and  you  can  do  nothing  with  me:  there  is 
no  position  worse  than  my  present  one.     Go  ahead 
and  tell  them  to  lead  me  out. 

Victor  Karenin:    May  we  go? 

Prosecuting  Attorney:  In  a  moment,  after 
you  will  have  signed  the  record. 

Fedya:  How  ridiculous  you  would  be,  if  you 
were  not  so  nasty ! 

Prosecuting  Attorney:  Lead  him  away.  You 
are  under  arrest. 

Fedya:  {to  Karenin  and  Lisa)  I  beg  your  forgive- 
ness. 

Victor  Karenin:  {goes  over  and  shakes  hands 
with  him)    It  evidently  had  to  come  to  pass! 

{Liza  passes  by.    Fedya  bows  low.) 


THE   LIVING   CORPSE.  93 

TABLEAU  II. 

A  corridor  of  the  district  court-house.  In  the 
background  is  a  glass  door  at  which  the  sergeant-at- 
arms  is  stationed.  Nearer  to  the  right  is  another 
door  through  which  the  accused  are  led  in.  Ivan 
Petrovich  Aleksandrov,  in  tatters,  goes  over  to  the 
first  door  and  tries  to  pass  through. 


I 


SCENE  I 


Sergeant-at-arms  and  Ivan  Petrovich. 

Sergeant:  Where  are  you  going?  No  admit- 
tance here.    Did  you  ever! 

Ivan  Petrovich  :  Why  not  ?  The  law  says : 
the  sessions  are  open  to  the  public,  {applause  with- 
in.) 

Sergeant:  No  admittance  here,  that's  all.  I 
have  strict  orders. 

Ivan  Petrovich  :  Boor!  You  don't  know  whom 
you  are  talking  to.  (a  young  lawyer  in  a  dress-suit 
comes  out.) 


SCENE  II. 

Sergeant-at-arms,  Ivan  Petrovich  and  the  young 
lawyer. 

Young  Lawyer:  What  is  it?  Are  you  here  on 
business  ? 

Ivan  Petrovich  :  No,  but  I  am  the  public.  And 
this  boor,  this  Cerberus,  doesn't  want  to  let  me 
in. 

Young  Lawyer:  But  this  is  not  the  place  for 
the  public. 


X 


v-' 


94  THE  LIVING   CORPSE. 


J^V-^  Ivan  Petrovich  :    I  know  it,  but  I  am  different 

/-;»  from  anybody  else. 

-  ^^  Young  Lawyer:    Wait;  the  intermission  comes 

Vo    ^  soon,  {turns  to  go;  meets  Prince  Abreskov.) 


SCENE  IIL 

The  sergeant-at-arms,  Ivan  Petrovich,  the  young 
lawyer  and  Prince  Abreskov. 

Prince  Abrezkov:  Permit  me  to  inquire,  how 
is  the  trial  progressing? 

Young  Lawyer:  The  lawyers  are  pleading — 
Petrushin  is  talking,  (more  applause  from  within.) 

Prince  Abrezkov  :  How  are  the  defendants  bear- 
ing up? 

Young  Lawyer  :  They  display  considerable  self- 
control,  especially  Karenin  and  Elizaveta  Andreev- 
na.  They  make  you  feel  that  it  is  not  they  who 
are  being  judged,  but  that  they  are  the  ones  who  are 
judging  society.  That  is  the  point  that  Petrushin 
is  emphasizing. 

Prince  Abrezkov:  Well,  and  how  is  Prota- 
sov  ?  --  '■ 

Young  Lawyer:  Very  much  excited.  He  is 
trembling  all  over;  but  that  was  to  be  expected, 
after  his  manner  of  living.  He  is  easily  irritated ; 
several  times  he  interrupted  the  district  attorney,  as 
well  as  the  lawyers.  He's  in  a  sorry  state  of  ex- 
haustion. "^ 

Prince  Abrezkov:  What  decision  do  you  ex- 
pect? 

Young  Lawyer:  It's  hard  to  foresee.  At  any 
rate,  they  cannot  prove  premeditated  action,  but 


THE   LIVING   CORPSE.  95 

just  the  same (a  gentleman  comes  out.  Prince 

Ahrezkov  moves  towards  the  door)  Do  you  want  to 
go  in? 

Prince  Abrezkov  :    Yes,  I  should  like  to. 

Young  Lawyer:  {to  the  Sergeant-at-arms)  Ad- 
mit this  gentleman.  There's  a  vacant  seat  right 
there  on  the  left  {the  Sergeant-at-arms  admits 
Prince  Ahrezkov.  As  the  door  is  opened,  the  lawyer 
can  be  seen  pleading.) 


SCENE  IV. 

The  Sergeant-at-arms,  the  young  lawyer  and  Ivan 
Petrovich. 

Ivan  Petrovich  :  Those  aristrocats !  Xv^  an 
aristocrat  of  the  mind,  which  is  more  important. 

Young  Lawyer:    You'll  excuse  me.  {leaving.) 


SCENE  V. 

The  Sergant-at-arms,  Ivan  Petrovich  and  Petush- 
kov.    {Petushkov  comes  hurrying  in.) 

Petushkov:  Ah,  how  do  you  do,  Ivan  Petro- 
vich?   How's  the  trial  getting  along? 

Ivan  Petrovich  :  The  lawyers  are  still  talking. 
And  they  don't  admit  anyone,  as  you  see. 

Sergeant  :  Stop  your  noise,  there !  This  is  not  a 
bar-room ! 

{More  applause;  the  door  opens.  The  lawyers 
and  the  spectators,  both  men  and  women,  pass  out.) 


96  THE   LIVING   CORPSE. 

SCENE  VI. 

The  same;  a  lady  and  an  officer. 

Lady:    Splendid!    He  actually  made  me  cry. 

Officer:  It's  better  than  any  novel.  Only  it  is 
inconceivable  how  she  could  have  loved  him  so 
much.     He's  a  terrible^ specimen. 


SCENE  vn. 

The  same.  Another  door  opens.  The  defendants 
pass  out  and  pass  along  the  corridor;  first  Lisa  and 
Karenin,  and  behind  them  Fedya,  alone. 

Lady:  Hush!  Here  he  is!  Just  see  how  ex- 
cited he  is!     {The  lady  and  the  officer  pass  along.) 

Fedya:  {going  over  to  Ivan  Petrovich.)  Did  you 
bring  it? 

Ivan  Petrovich  :  Here  it  is.  {handing  him  some- 
thing.) 

Fedya:  {hides  it  in  his  pocket  and  is  about  to  go; 
notices  Petushkov)  It's  stupid,  silly !  And  tedious. 
Nonsensical,    {is  about  to  go.) 


SCENE  VIII. 

The  same;  Petrushin,  the  principal  lawyer,  stout, 
red-faced,  lively,  approaches. 

Petrushin:  Well,  my  friend,  we  have  a  good 
chance,  only  don't  spoil  it  all  in  your  final  plea. 

Fedya:  I  won't  say  a  word.  What  shall  I  tell 
them?    I  won't  do  it. 


>  \  THE   LIVING   CORPSE.  97 


.A 


.)' 


V  Petrushin:    No,  you  must!    Don't  let  yourself 

get  excited.  Now,  we  have  as  good  as  won  the 
case.  You  have  only  to  tell  them  what  you  told 
^  ^  me,  that  if  you  are  on  trial,  it's  only  for  not  having 
committed  suicide, — that  is,  for  not  having  done 
what  is  considered  a  sin  by  the  church  and  a  crime 
by  the  law. 

Fedya  :    I  won't  say  a  single  word.  ^ 

Petrushin:   Why  not?  i 

Fedya  :  I  simply  don't  want  to,  and  I'm  not  going 
■^  to.    Just  tell  me  this:  what  is  the  worst  than  can 

"^      J         happen? 

Petrushin  :  I  have  told  you  already :  in  the  worst  t 

\j  \.X      ^    case  it  may  mean  exile  to  Siberia.  -^    L 

^  iK-        Fedya:   Who  do  you  mean  will  be  exiled ?  -cn'^ 

^     1  Petrushin  :    Why,  both  you  and  your  wife.       "^  P  ,  ^ 

V  Fedya  :  And  in  the  best  case  ?  ''^     "^ 

^  Petrushin:    Religious  penance,  and,  of  course,' 

'  -^    r        annihilation  of  the  second  marriage.  ..      v^ 

^^  "^  Fedya:  That  means  that  they  will  again  tie  us     |*     ^ 

t  '      ^'      together. 

Petrushin:  Why,  yes,  as  a  matter  of  course. 
But  don't  let  that  excite  you.  And  please  do  just 
as  I  tell  you,  and,  above  all,  don't  say  anything  un- 
necessary. However —  (noticing  that  people  have 
gathered  about  them  and  are  listening)  I  am  tired, 
I  will  take  a  bit  of  rest.  The  main  thing  is — cour- 
age. 

Fedya  :  And  there  can  be  no  other  solution  ? 
Petrushin:  (going  away)  None  whatever. 


SCENE  IX. 

The  same,  without  Petrushin;  a  court  attendant 
enters. 


08  THE   LIVING   CORPSE. 

Attendant:  Move  along!  Move  along!  Don't 
stand  in  the  corridor! 

Fedya:  Just  a  minute,  {takes  the  pistol  out  of 
his  pocket  and  shoots  himself  straight  in  the  heart. 
He  falls.  All  rush  towards  him.)  Never  mind.  I 
think  it's  all  right.    Liza! 


SCENE  X. 

From  all  sides  spectators  rush  in,  also  judges,  de- 
fendants and  witnesses.  First  of  all  comes  Liza. 
Behind  her  are  Masha,  Karenin,  Ivan  Petrovich  and 
Prince  Ahrezkov. 

'Liza:    What  have  you  done!  Fedya!  Why 1 

Fedya  :  Forgive  me  for  not  having  been  able — to 
liberate  you  otherwise —  It's  not  for  your  sake — it's 
.much  better  for  me.  I've  been  ready  for  it — for  a 
long  time. 

Liza:  You  will  live.  {The  doctor  bends  over 
him,  listening.) 

Fedya:    I  know  without  the  doctor Victor, 

good-bye.  And  Masha — came  too  late — {weeping) 
How  well  I  feel,  how  well — {expires.) 

{Curtain.) 


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3  1158  00317  3225 


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AA    000  571  673    3 


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